Hello all, My name is Ryan Jones, and I am the IPM Specialist for the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, VA.
We have recently encountered a problem in one of our museums that we would like to get your input on. Approximately two months ago, we had a section of wood flooring torn out near one of the galleries in the DeWitt Wallace Art Museum. Around that time, we began to see large numbers of small, unidentified red beetles that were roughly 1/8 inch long in an office that was 150-200 feet away from the work-site. We sent these beetles off to a nearby university to be identified, and, to our surprise, the specimens were identified as Square Necked Grain Beetles. As you know, Square Necked Grain Beetles are a stored product pest that would likely be right at home inside a container of corn meal, flour, or other food product. We have been puzzled, however, about how they could live in such large numbers in an art museum. I have researched these insects online and have found no evidence that they would be able to survive in a subfloor or wall void without a food substance to sustain them. We have inspected the surrounding workshops and mechanical rooms, break room, and other areas that might play host to an infestation of these insects, but have had no luck finding a source. The beetles continue to be found in some of our textile displays, on the wood floor beside the baseboards in sporadic areas throughout the museum, in hallways adjacent to the gallery, and in large numbers in the office where they were originally spotted. What are your thoughts on how we can get rid of these pests? Can Square Necked Grain Beetles thrive in an art gallery, or is there a possibility that the insect was misidentified? Is it possible that these beetles can invade from outside? (One of the common denominators seems to be that the sightings occur in close proximity to an exterior wall.) I am prepared to take pictures of the insects or send samples if need be to clarify what we are dealing with. I have reviewed pictures of this beetle online and the specimens look exactly like the ones we are seeing. Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, Ryan Jones Integrated Pest Management Specialist [cid:image003.jpg@01CB6A20.D504A420] P.O. Box 1776 Williamsburg, VA 23187 (757) 220-7080 rjo...@cwf.org<mailto:rjo...@cwf.org>
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