In 44 years of inspecting museums, I have never seen WCM larvae feeding on dead insects. Just not their thing. Tom Parker
> On Jul 6, 2020, at 5:32 PM, Todd Holmberg <[email protected]> wrote: > > > Wow- that is so interesting! It's encouraging to hear WCM success stories > like this where the problem vanishes after a specific cause is positively > identified. > > Thanks for sharing this info! > > -Todd > >> On Mon, Jul 6, 2020 at 4:24 PM Christina M. Cain >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> Todd, >> >> Getting rid of bait stations is a common challenge. If you can move away >> from those, it would be best for all of the reasons you mention. For our >> situation, we ended up hiring a plumber who had a scoping camera that we >> could drop into the wall from a small hole. That sort of equipment might be >> helpful for under your stairs. >> >> >> >> To locate our culprit, we put out a grid of pheromone traps and tracked the >> numbers daily using Excel. We were able to create a graph showing the >> activity was focused around one particular wall. Seeing no other options, we >> dropped the camera down through a hole in the wall from above the ceiling >> tiles (this kept us from making several random holes in the gallery wall). >> The monitoring ended up being so precise that we dropped the camera directly >> on the dead bird. We were then able to extricate it and the moths vanished >> almost immediately. >> >> >> >> The other thing is to eliminate whatever might be drawing mice indoors. >> Examples include moving the dumpster far from the door, cleaning, taking out >> the trash daily, ensuring no food or drink is left in the space, ensuring no >> sinks or other plumbing are leaking, etc. >> >> >> >> Hope this helps. >> >> Best, >> >> Christina >> >> >> >> >> >> Christina Cain >> >> Anthropology Collections Manager >> >> University of Colorado Museum of Natural History >> >> 303-492-2198 >> >> >> >> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of >> Todd Holmberg >> Sent: Monday, July 6, 2020 2:57 PM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: Re: [PestList] Webbing Moth Question >> >> >> >> Christina- >> >> >> >> Interesting... We do use mouse poison bait stations. Moving away from them >> has been one of those "back burnered" topics for a long time. They are not >> only problematic because of the potential moth issue if they die in the >> building, but also a bad situation if the mice do make it out and the poison >> can find its way into owls/hawks etc. >> >> The baiting is done by an outside pest contractor, and that contract is >> managed by a different department than mine within our museum structure. I >> feel like elaborating on the nature of that situation may take us "deep into >> the weeds" and derail the specific question at hand, so I'll keep that topic >> for another thread. >> >> The general area is by a pretty porous location in the building envelope >> where mice and insects can get in (loading dock/contractor entrance type >> space). There are door sweeps in place, but they aren't super tight. Most >> of the walls are cinder block/poured concrete, floors are concrete, and the >> ceiling is exposed metal. There aren't really spots where larger creatures >> could die and be hidden behind sheetrock. The pheromone lure isn't too >> close to the exterior doors in this area to avoid accidentally drawing in >> moths from outside. >> >> >> >> There is a void under a staircase in this area that is basically impossible >> to access and clean. I'm sure it never has been cleaned. I am certain >> there are dead insects around in this space, and possibly dead mice. The >> smell from the dumpster may be enough to hide a dead mouse aroma. I'll see >> if I can get a selfie-stick or something and lower my phone down into this >> void and see if I can possibly spot a dead mouse/bird. >> >> >> >> Thanks for your info, >> >> >> >> Todd >> >> >> >> On Mon, Jul 6, 2020 at 3:21 PM Christina M. Cain >> <[email protected]> wrote: >> >> Hi Todd, >> >> You are giving me flashbacks. I was once at a museum with unexplained >> clothes moths. Turns out they were feasting on a dead bird inside of a wall >> (new construction building). They were find their way out of the recesses >> of the wall by the dozens and it took months to figure out where the source >> was. Is there any way you could have a dead rodent in the walls, does your >> building pest management use mouse poison, etc? >> >> That’s my best guess, >> >> Christina >> >> >> >> Christina Cain >> >> Anthropology Collections Manager >> >> University of Colorado Museum of Natural History >> >> 303-492-2198 >> >> >> >> From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of >> Todd Holmberg >> Sent: Monday, July 6, 2020 1:34 PM >> To: [email protected] >> Subject: [PestList] Webbing Moth Question >> >> >> >> Hello Group- >> >> >> >> I am wondering if anyone here can confirm if webbing clothes moth larvae >> feed on dead insects. >> >> I have seen dermestid larvae first hand feeding on other dead insects (stuck >> in a trap), and am looking into the possibility of that being true for WCM >> as well. "Other dead insects" doesn't seem to be high on the list for >> materials associated with WCM based on what I seen/hear online, but it seems >> like they might be able to be food for them, so I thought I would check with >> the group to see if anyone had any thoughts. >> >> >> >> There is an area where moths seem to be a somewhat ongoing issue that >> doesn't really have any classic examples of "moth material" (wool, feathers, >> fur etc). I did see 3 ground beetles in the trap the other day though, so I >> thought I would check to see if dead ground beetles (or insects in general) >> might be desirable to WCM larvae. >> >> >> >> If anyone has any experience with this, I would be interested in hearing >> your thoughts. >> >> >> >> Thanks! >> >> Todd >> >> -- >> 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/CAMxAh%2BjU4aWA1HschFb0yiH7pfe6rvn%3DkTGCBotZfAMtsdehtA%40mail.gmail.com. >> >> -- >> 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/CY4PR03MB278989583EDEB6795FC3D63BED690%40CY4PR03MB2789.namprd03.prod.outlook.com. >> >> -- >> 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/CAMxAh%2Bh0qWdUAP%2Bog2qPJdha-1%3Dj5%2BG3MgKTxVvdpdXNDDoJfQ%40mail.gmail.com. >> >> -- >> 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/CY4PR03MB2789DC34520557A87B4E7436ED690%40CY4PR03MB2789.namprd03.prod.outlook.com. > > -- > 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/CAMxAh%2Bihbg%3Dj%3DzrBUWqk3Y98V_%2B5C8oNF4A7fyu%3D_d1Kbx7h9Q%40mail.gmail.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. 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