Mike, In my experience here in New England the white droplets seem identical to the spider droppings I see constantly. It might vary in color depending on species or environment. I would say given the location to the web and the presence of insect carcasses nearby it's a spider. Can be difficult to remove the droplets on the wood but generally does not cause harm and any frass can be vacuumed up.
-Cienna Preventive Care Assistant Historic New England ________________________________ From: [email protected] <[email protected]> on behalf of Cathryn Harvey <[email protected]> Sent: Friday, July 25, 2025 9:00 AM To: [email protected] <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [PestList] identification You don't often get email from [email protected]. Learn why this is important<https://aka.ms/LearnAboutSenderIdentification> Dear Mike, I believe the beetle is a fungus beetle with its head tucked in. There are many species of them (https://www.whatseatingyourcollection.com/identify?obj=117),but likely to be something like Corticaria serrata or Cryptophagus acutangulus. They are normally a sign of high local humidity. Not sure about the spider stuff, but hopefully this helps. Best wishes, Cathryn Harvey On Fri, 25 Jul 2025 at 12:31, 'Mike van der Steenhoven' via MuseumPests <[email protected]<mailto:[email protected]>> wrote: Dear Pestlisters, We found an insect in our wooden closet for storing paintings. I thought it could be a potential wood boring insect but cannot find a good resemblance between the wood boring insects. I hope you can lead me on a way to know if this one is to worry about or not. The other picture is of a spiderweb, underneath there are white droplets does any of you know what that is? Is it spider poop, It looks way to white for that to me? Hope you can help, With kind regards, Mike van der Steenhoven Coördinator Collectieveiligheid +31 (0) 703023497 +31 (0) 6 21823879 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Mauritshuis Koninklijk Kabinet van Schilderijen Royal Picture Gallery [PotterKijkers - De stier onder de loep]<http://mauritshuis.nl/destier> -- 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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/AS8PR08MB8442A306AA702B8BEE4FC478EE59A%40AS8PR08MB8442.eurprd08.prod.outlook.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/AS8PR08MB8442A306AA702B8BEE4FC478EE59A%40AS8PR08MB8442.eurprd08.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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CANx5L2rG2jiDdhY4kPeNcCKU%3D4Q--MyPiJ3nymmm41YgiFPHdA%40mail.gmail.com<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CANx5L2rG2jiDdhY4kPeNcCKU%3D4Q--MyPiJ3nymmm41YgiFPHdA%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 visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/SA2PR22MB2540E4C879367A6531A29F16DF59A%40SA2PR22MB2540.namprd22.prod.outlook.com.
