Hello Georgia, I have seen this kind of thing before – grain pests like drugstore beetles going after rodent bait and living quite happily. I suspect that one of the attractants for the rodents is some kind of food – a grain or something, which attracts the insects. This is a guess, based on a few observations, now including yours. I just did a quick search on the bait, and it is an anti-coagulant, meaning that the rodents eat it and bleed to death internally. They go into hiding in the walls or in some quiet place to die. Their carcasses will attract dermestids, and other protein eaters, which will eventually move on to edible collections. So, that is a very good reason not to use mouse bait inside.
Gretchen From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Georgia Miller Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2019 4:28 PM To: '[email protected]' <[email protected]> Subject: [pestlist] Drugstore beetles eating rodent bait Hello, Yesterday I discovered drugstore beetles (Stegobium paniceum) inside two rodent bait stations. There was a sticky trap nearby with beetles on and I just happened to check the rodent station by chance (this is usually checked by an external rodent provider). After opening the rodent trap I saw the beetles had bore holes all through the poison bait, I broke open the bait and could see happy little larvae inside! The poison bait is Contrac All-Weather Blox, I’m unsure if this is used in other countries or just here in New Zealand. We have these bait stations throughout the whole museum and I’m now worried that we are attracting drugstore beetles with our rodent prevention… any thoughts appreciated! Georgia Georgia Miller | Collection Manager, Collection Care | Auckland War Memorial Museum | Tāmaki Paenga Hira | The Domain, Private Bag 92018, Victoria Street West, Auckland 1142, New Zealand | M | P +64 9 306 7070 ext 7190 | E [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/]<https://www.aucklandmuseum.com/service-pages/signature-am> Auckland Museum Trust Board ("Auckland Museum") accepts no liability for any opinion contained in this email. The material in this email is confidential to the recipient named above. If you are not the intended recipient: please do not copy, use or disclose this communication; please notify us immediately by email or by telephone (64 9 309 0443) and then delete this email. Where this is a communication unrelated to the business of Auckland Museum, Auckland Museum does not accept any responsibility for its contents. ________________________________ This e-mail message has been scanned for Viruses and Content and cleared by MailMarshal ________________________________ -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Museumpests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/5d24341e3b4d4dd3852d4b16caacfeaf%40AMVM-EXCHANGE-C.akmuseum.org.nz<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/5d24341e3b4d4dd3852d4b16caacfeaf%40AMVM-EXCHANGE-C.akmuseum.org.nz?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Museumpests" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/BL0PR02MB43066EA4B4ECBA1C02BFB94ABC860%40BL0PR02MB4306.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.
