Yes, shrews will eat blowflies, and produce a 4-5mm dropping like the one in the photo. But the smaller frass is from a beetle larva or moth caterpillar. Your blunder traps should provide evidence of what's active in the case. Tony
Dr A.G.Irwin 47 The Avenues Norwich Norfolk NR2 3PH England mobile: +44(0)7880707834 phone: +44(0)1603 453524 On Tue, 11 Apr 2023 at 18:58, Jodi Lundgren <[email protected]> wrote: > 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]> > 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] > > 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]. > 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]. > 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 > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/SN6PR02MB542173675BEFDD9810387D39959A9%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. 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