[Nhcoll-l] [EXT] paper silverfish

[Valerie Tomlinson]

Hi Ann,
Do you have an IPM plan (Integrated Pest Management) at your worksite? A plan like this looks at all aspects of the building to see how pests might be attracted in, and what barriers could be put in place to prevent ingress. This included food management (no food or drink in or near collection spaces) to reduce enticing pests into the collection; a quarantine procedure for all incoming and outgoing material (having a quarantine room, freezing in coming material, disposing of packaging, etc.); blocking access to pests (sealing windows and doors where possible, gravel strip around the building, no vegetation up against the building, etc.); good housekeeping and cleanliness; and other processes covering the principles of “Avoid, Block, Detect, Monitor, and Treat”.  If you don’t have an IPM plan, I suggest some research into it.
For silverfish you would particularly want to be looking at water sources as well as the above. Do you have overhead pipes, potentially with leaks? Are there drains and sumps in the collection spaces? Are there sinks and water supplies? Silverfish can survive without water but they can’t breed without it, so you want to have that under control.
Being able to keep the humidity in your collection spaces below 60% will make a big difference in the amount of insect pests around.
If you don’t have HVAC controls at your site, then you can purchase commercial dehumidifiers for each room and have them set to come on at 55% or 60%rH, and turn off at 50%-55%. Keep the dehumidifiers well maintained. The filters will have to be cleaned regularly, and the reservoir drained. The dehumidifier can be piped into the building drains if you don’t want to have to keep emptying the bucket. Unmaintained dehumidifiers can become a fire risk after years of use, so you don’t want things to get to that stage (usually from air filters getting clogged with dust, and a spark from the aging electric components setting it on fire).
Museums I have worked at don’t use pesticides on any collection items (in theory, they might if there was a dire situation with a massive pest outbreak, just to get things under control before the entire collection disappears). However, they will use pesticides on non-collection areas such as loading docks, entrances, hallways, gallery floors (spray pesticides, not airborne mists), and even the perimeter of collection spaces, provided they are not mist fumigants and the collection material is in boxes and enclosed cabinets.
You mention having problems with cardboard. It is best to avoid non-archival, corrugated cardboard in collection areas as that is both a place to hide and food to eat for silverfish. If you have any non-archival, corrugated cardboard that is in contaminated areas it would best to throw it out and start again. Possibly with something less tasty.
Hope that helps.
Valerie Tomlinson

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Ann Bogaerts
Sent: Tuesday, October 25, 2022 5:01 AM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [EXT][Nhcoll-l] paper silverfish

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Dear all,

For a few months we see paper silverfisch (Ctenolepisma longicaudatum) in our collection, especially in places where a lot of cardboard is used. For decontamination we only freeze our collections when entering in the herbariumrooms, but we have no climatisation in our collection rooms.
We want to know if some of your institutes encounter the same problem (silverfish) and what they do about it? Do you still use pesticides?

Thanks for your help,
Ann

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