Is there an exhaust vent serving this room? If so, check the duct for an animal carcass or cache of food. If not, I’ll vote that there’s a dried carcass above the ceiling or in a wall void. The animal likely desiccated long ago, so there’d not be a detectable (by you) odor. The beetles, however, have more sensitive olfactory abilities and will find the carcass. You’d then have a somewhat synchronous hatch and development of the next generation. The sudden appearance of many beetles simultaneously would explain what you’ve described.
Richard J. Pollack, PhD HARVARD UNIVERSITY Environmental Health and Safety (EH&S) Senior Environmental Public Health Officer 46 Blackstone St. Cambridge, MA 02139 Office: 617-495-2995 Cell: 617-447-0763 www.ehs.harvard.edu [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> From: <[email protected]> on behalf of Adrienne Dastgir <[email protected]> Reply-To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Date: Thursday, February 20, 2020 at 12:00 PM To: "[email protected]" <[email protected]> Subject: [pestlist] Varied Carpet Beetle (Attagenus verbasci). Good morning all, Yesterday it appeared as if it had rained Varied Carpet beetles in our lab. I counted 29 in just one spot which near our storage room and photography room. Which are also in the lab. I counted another two in our photography room. This morning I found even more I found 3 in the lab and 2 in the photography room. I have not saw anything like this before so I am little confessed as to where they may have come from. I keep the lab clean because collections are allowed to be brought from the collection storage into the lab to be worked on, and then taken back to the collection storage. No food is allowed in the lab. Drinks with lids are okay. I have a few suggestion as to where they may have come from. 1. The floor and the wall because there is gap between the floor and the wall cover with rubber baseboard. 2. The large pipe that is in the Photography room. 3. The ceiling we have ceiling tiles. I am yet to fine a source to where they are located. I know they do not live in nest like ants. I also know that they group together for food source. I have walked outside did not see anything and I don’t smell a dead animal. About a month ago an larvae was found in the photography room on the trap. But no more in that area was found and the area was cleaned. I do not want them to get into the collection area which is just across the hall from the lab. My question is how could there be so many at once and I did not notice them? Has anyone else encounter something like this before? Thanks, Adrienne Dastgir Curator of Collections W: (580) 622-7156 Ex. 65078 Email: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Chickasaw Cultural Center 867 Charles Cooper Memorial Drive Sulphur, OK | 73086 [CCC logo] -- 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/956416c415e44cbb83e52453676fae9c%40chickasaw.net<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__groups.google.com_d_msgid_pestlist_956416c415e44cbb83e52453676fae9c-2540chickasaw.net-3Futm-5Fmedium-3Demail-26utm-5Fsource-3Dfooter&d=DwMFaQ&c=WO-RGvefibhHBZq3fL85hQ&r=GO7C3XN3WgFy2IP-bFBbnUs_CYntqj57Dprtl40-_KE&m=-jeDDllaV_D9BFtfx8jyQ-7oXUMWPyawQoMvb91Ueaw&s=phNt2li12QKU4Ac_htmY8Mq-Bk6GfseY2kbpR6sDdBQ&e=>. -- 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/15748039-CF88-4688-8A71-2B1B65080281%40harvard.edu.
