[Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

[Furth, David]

Yes, I agree strongly with Peter's points about freezing.  We have been doing it for 20 years.  All incoming specimens are kept at a minimum of minus 25 C for 48 hours.

________________________________
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu [nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu] On Behalf Of Peter T Oboyski [essig.museum at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 3:54 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

We stopped using naphthalene and pulled all the crystals from the drawers before moving to a new building four years ago. Our new space has much better environmental control and the windows are sealed (as opposed to our previous building), but our drawers are in open-faced compactors and not closed cabinets. So I still worry about infestations. Our only defense is vigilance and regular inspections - so far, so good. But, of course, no organic materials are allowed through the museum door without spending a few days in the -80 freezer. This is probably the most important aspect of our (anti-) pest program (well worth the investment).

Last month, our Environmental Health and Safety department sampled both our new and old space for naphthalene and PDB (which we used occasionally). We were curious whether the old wooden drawers were still off-gasing much and if there were any health concerns. In both spaces ambient naphthalene and PDB were below detection levels and there was no human health issue (within 4 years of removal). We still keep our types in closed cabinets - and the air sampled from these cabinets detected very faint traces of naphthalene, but well below health standard limits.

Pete
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Peter T Oboyski, PhD
Collections Manager & Senior Museum Scientist
Essig Museum of Entomology
1170 Valley Life Science Building
University of California, Berkeley

mailing address:
1101 VLSB, #4780
Berkeley, CA 94720

http://nature.berkeley.edu/~poboyski/<http://nature.berkeley.edu/%7Epoboyski/>
http://essig.berkeley.edu

essig.museum at gmail.com<mailto:essig.museum at gmail.com>
510.643.0804 (work phone)
510.847.0360 (cell phone)
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On Thu, Apr 4, 2013 at 12:10 PM, Furth, David <FURTHD at si.edu<mailto:FURTHD at si.edu>> wrote:
If your insect collection is less than 2 million, and if your collection is inside cabinets (wood or otherwise) I would suggest stopping the use of Naphthalene (absorbed into wood, paper products, and off-gasing for years).  Instead use a team of trained staff (4-6) to inspect the collection at least once a year.

At the Smithsonian we stopped applying Naphthalene many years ago and, in fact, have an active program to remove any existing crystals of it.  There are methods to suck out the impregnated gas, but they are rare and expensive.

________________________________
From: nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> [nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>] On Behalf Of Luis Filipe Lopes [llopes at museus.ul.pt<mailto:llopes at museus.ul.pt>]
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 1:54 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Pest control in Insect Collections

Hello All,

I have some doubts regarding pest control in insect collections and I was looking for some advice in what the best practices are regarding this matter.
In our Museum, the insect collection was kept pest-free using Naphthalene, though due to health issues of the people working with it has been decided to stop using this product, which I think works as a repellent and no insecticide. The room where the insects are stored still has a strong odor of naphthalene impregnated probably in the wooden cabinets, though we are not sure if this strong odor is enough to keep pests out.
At the moment, pest control is done monthly with Piretrine, which is supposed to have an insecticide action for 3 weeks.

This plan seems to be too expensive to keep, so I would like to know if there is any alternative pest-control method which does not rely on the monthly Piretrine treatment.

The room does not have any temperature control or ventilation system, so this is also not an option.

I would really appreciate any advice you could provide on this subject or if you could point me to some good guide about pest control in insect collections.

Thank you very much.

Filipe Lopes

National Museum of Natural History and Science
Rua da Escola Politécnica,
1250-102 Lisboa
Portugal
Telephone: +351213921855<tel:%2B351213921855>


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