[Nhcoll-l] clothes moths in baleen

[Chris J. CONROY]

Dear list,
    Three years ago we found clothes moths, *Tineola* *bisselliella*,
living and reproducing in 2 1-ft square pieces of dried baleen from a
*Megaptera
novaeangliae*, Humpback whale. We cleaned it up, bagged it, and froze and
thawed it a few times at -25C. Then the pandemic. Unfortunately, the moths
have returned, presumably from not being killed by several freeze-thaw
cycles. Use of tools and compressed air is not going to be sufficient to
remove all the moths since they are deep within the plates.
     Does anyone have suggestions for effectively treating these items to
destroy the moths, but also not damage the baleen too much?  Has anyone
seen moths feeding on baleen in museums before?

Thanks in advance for your ideas,

Chris Conroy
Museum of Vertebrate Zoology
UC Berkeley
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