[Nhcoll-l] Collection Room Active Pest Infestation Treatment

Tue Jul 9 15:28:25 EDT 2024

Julian,
You are doing what you can!  From the sound of it, you inherited a nightmare.  Have you been taking photos?

It does sound like the moth infestation is your primary issue at this point.  The sow bugs are incidentals (and help provide food for the actual pests).  I am not surprised at the silverfish near paper-that is what they go for.  The first thing I suggest is that you read about the life cycle of the moths,, find out their preferred environment etc.  This is always a good start.  Museum pest network will provide that info.

Be careful with mothballs. The active ingredient is not a pesticide - it is a repellant, so you might not get the desired effect. It is also linked to serious sinus infections and possibly cancer. Also, it might be illegal to use in a public institution.  Many pesticides are.  I suggest that you bag all the specimens that are in the offending cabinet. Make sure the bags are well sealed.  Place everything in two bags (clear if possible - so you can see what is going on). Empty the cabinet, vacuum it out - every crease and crevasse. Then wash it inside and out, include every shelf. Make sure it is dry.  Check the seals on the seams, check the gaskets.  Use tape or silicone gasketing to seal any holes. Replace the gaskets around the doors with a modern gasket (you can use any number of premade silicone gaskets depending on the profile you are filling - or even use backer-rod- a polyethylene gasket material). These materials can be purchased at the local hardware store.

Do your best to clean the room that you are dealing with.  Housekeeping is key in this kind of situation.
Good luck
Gretchen

From: Julian Alexander Birnbach <jbirnbach at sfsu.edu>
Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2024 2:51 PM
To: Anderson, Gretchen <AndersonG at CarnegieMNH.Org>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu; Tocci, Genevieve E. <glewis-g at oeb.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Collection Room Active Pest Infestation Treatment

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hello,
Currently I have been bagging and setting up to freeze what I can. My biggest problem is a bird cabinet where many specimens are beyond saving but the room is small and has been left alone for years at this point and I am finding live bugs in every corner. Sticky traps have been left for years and are full of pests including: Web making clothes moths (Tineola bisselliella)(this is the main pest), Sow bugs(Porcellionidae) , and a small group of silver fish (these are isolated to a small stack of papers and seem to no longer be active). I have found no signs of dermestids so far, but I fear I may have only scratched the surface and I will be replacing the sticky traps as soon as I can.
The problem cabinet has been sealed with some moth balls inside as my attempt to slow the infestation to other areas.  I am limited in my freezer space, so I have been doing my best to set up a system of bagging and freezing the worst of the specimens.

Thank you for the information about the parasitic wasps, I will do more research and consider this method as I may have access to parasitic wasps via an Insect Zoo

Thank you for the additional information concerning Museumpests.net<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fMuseumpests.net&c=E,1,4AB5CeExZ8vL_Dp8i9lGsdiPHpCh3oPkMu8IngYjbX504dqL6auT-xoMqQP3321JhcX97Reva_q7t4XYvB96JWp-7sf2L5Whu1HUonqxMhBSn_iJcWaAXo4e1y8L&typo=1&ancr_add=1> I have in the past only used the site for pest ID and foolishly didn't bother to look at their other resources.

If you have any more guidance it is greatly appreciated.

Thank you,
Julian Birnbach

Ichthyology Collection Manager
San Francisco State University.
jbirnbach at sfsu.edu<mailto:jbirnbach at sfsu.edu>
julianb at sfzoo.org<mailto:julianb at sfzoo.org>
________________________________
From: Anderson, Gretchen <AndersonG at CarnegieMNH.Org<mailto:AndersonG at CarnegieMNH.Org>>
Sent: Tuesday, July 9, 2024 10:31 AM
To: Julian Alexander Birnbach <jbirnbach at sfsu.edu<mailto:jbirnbach at sfsu.edu>>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Collection Room Active Pest Infestation Treatment

Hi Julian,

Freezing is the best action for your collections.  However, it will only be the first step.  To begin with, are you aware of the Museum Pest Network (Museumpests.net | A Product of the Integrated Pest Management Working Group<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fmuseumpests.net%2f&c=E,1,f2jljmtgh0b3Gj8JYrQobS_HRFydWSGO83mGSWb_UgUysQb_vO45r9flvVlL28V0dyIFZ1EHBgBOiqnDgHNTiUzSY60BcZKMzMy5Wu--RaivJpzyiN5sChOl1Q,,&typo=1>).  This is a site that was developed to be a one-stop shop for Museum (and zoo) pest management challenges.  There are a lot of resources on it that will help you. In addition, there is a listserv with a lot of IPM specialists where you can get a lot of advice.

MuseumPests.net<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fMuseumPests.net&c=E,1,awjO7IyjSRfdjiKKPkozkzlkMW82-9ERNVmR64kA9Ik6A22B43-G9wQ1oeTXF82iOPMxoKJDuQtGWwQsj5aa6usgjtz1pUJ8s5HynDbsr--WL2ubEw,,&typo=1&ancr_add=1> will have specific instructions for freezing (and other strategies for pest management.   Here are a few initial thoughts.

  1.  Positively identify your pest.  Are you sure it is a clothing moth? Are there dermestids etc.? Have you put out sticky traps? This will help to determine the threat.

  1.  Freeze, using the standards set out in Museum Pest Network

  1.  Clean-  You will have to clean the space - thoroughly clean.

  1.  Continue to monitor to see if you got it all.

This might take a few rounds to get the infestation under control.

Gretchen Anderson

Conservator

Carnegie Museum of Natural History

Andersong at CarnegieMNH.Org<mailto:Andersong at CarnegieMNH.Org>

Instructor

Museum Studies LLC

Preventive Conservation, Integrated Pest Management, Museum House Keeping

Museum Study online professional development - Home<https://linkprotect.cudasvc.com/url?a=https%3a%2f%2fwww.museumstudy.com%2f&c=E,1,vYSRSJEz3d9w1k25Y9dxDHbo8wT8in1WQf8ijro6Iu3MBv5fP1sfjAJJ5K1KpUIvO033NIzXgsDFg-HYy8vqHgGzohZof5pBXlX_LZZdKJcSZq8mdnY,&typo=1>

________________________________
From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu>> on behalf of Julian Alexander Birnbach <jbirnbach at sfsu.edu<mailto:jbirnbach at sfsu.edu>>
Sent: Monday, July 8, 2024 5:42 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu> <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu<mailto:nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>>
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Collection Room Active Pest Infestation Treatment

CAUTION: This email originated from outside of the organization. Do not click links or open attachments unless you recognize the sender and know the content is safe.
Hello Colleagues,

I recently started helping my local zoo with their small natural history collection. I quickly found an active and large pest problem in their collection room of mostly cloth moths. The room holds a diverse group of collection types from pelts and study skins to fluid collections. I have already placed some damaged feathers and study skins into a freezer but, I was hoping for any information on how to handle a large infestation. I have some ideas on how to deal with it but I'm working with limited resources and facilities so any help or guidance on best practices to be able to save and protect what's left would be great.

Thank you for any help,
Julian Birnbach
Ichthyology Collection Manager
San Francisco State University.
jbirnbach at sfsu.edu<mailto:jbirnbach at sfsu.edu>
julianb at sfzoo.org<mailto:julianb at sfzoo.org>

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