Thank you and sorry for not including scale! The size of the particle in those images is 4-5mm. This was in an enclosed case with weaknesses in its construction but I am hoping a mouse couldn’t have squeezed in there. I’ll look at the weaknesses more closely though, as well as check all objects in the area for possible beetle or other issues. We do have recurring problems with beetles.
We have found shrews in blunder traps in there recently (just a month ago). Would a shrew eat fly carcasses? I didn’t see any signs of beetle activity outside of the frass from the fly carcasses. Thanks! Jodi From: [email protected] <[email protected]> On Behalf Of Dr Tony Irwin Sent: Tuesday, April 11, 2023 1:43 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [PestList] winged pest Hi Jodi Your photos show the remains of blow-flies (Calliphoridae, probably Calliphora species). Their bodies have been eaten by something else, such as a clothes moth or dermestid beetle. Unfortunately anything which is happy eating dead flies is a potential threat to other organic remains, including museum objects. A set of blunder traps would help to establish what pests you have, and where they are concentrated. The photos 105833 and 105914 need a scale with them, or at least tell us the size of the object. I'm guessing it's a few millimetres long, and might be a mouse dropping. Again, a potential threat to museum materials. Best wishes Tony Dr A.G.Irwin 47 The Avenues Norwich Norfolk NR2 3PH England mobile: +44(0)7880707834 phone: +44(0)1603 453524 On Mon, 10 Apr 2023 at 22:29, Jodi Lundgren <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Hey all, We had to pull these bits of bugs out of a case. It didn’t look like anything was actively happening to the object nearby. I tried to do a wing search and think these may look like Conopidae? I haven’t done a lot of identification so I may be way off base here. There were bits of specs under and around the carcasses. I thought the little bits may just be the bodies desiccating and flaking off. I don’t know if they can decompose in consistently-sized breakage/flaking like that and am just shooting from the hip here in trying to figure this out. I’m most worried that something else may be eating them and this is frass—that there is some OTHER pest that I should be concerned about. Can anyone advise on what I may be dealing with here? Thanks! Jodi Lundgren Collections Manager The Indian Museum of North America® Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation 12151 Avenue of the Chiefs Crazy Horse, SD 57730-8900 Phone (605) 673-4681 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> www.crazyhorsememorial.org<http://www.crazyhorsememorial.org/> The Mission of Crazy Horse Memorial Foundation is to protect and preserve the culture, tradition, and living heritage of the North American Indians. -- 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/SN6PR02MB5421C22EC8ACC3FA1B10A56295959%40SN6PR02MB5421.namprd02.prod.outlook.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/SN6PR02MB5421C22EC8ACC3FA1B10A56295959%40SN6PR02MB5421.namprd02.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- 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/CAFWqZKMU3vMcwdhAfa6zShdWrUSScPy%3DaAtuen7uGgPiu3MXRg%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAFWqZKMU3vMcwdhAfa6zShdWrUSScPy%3DaAtuen7uGgPiu3MXRg%40mail.gmail.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- 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/SN6PR02MB542173675BEFDD9810387D39959A9%40SN6PR02MB5421.namprd02.prod.outlook.com.
