Hi Louis: Very interesting. We had a situation here early September 2009 where one of the conservation laboratories was infested with grain beetles. We were equally puzzled as we were not storing anything grain like in that lab. The best scenario we came up with was a custodial slop floor sink type drain was blocked and a roto rooter type company cleaned it out. After that event the beetles emerged from the sink drain in the conservation lab which was about 15 feet from the slop sink drain. (The drains are likely connected). We vacuumed up all the insects with a HEPA vac and emptied the bag. We blocked the sinks in the lab with translucent cups that fit the drain. We noticed beetles on the bottom of the cups e.g. coming from the drain. I tried different solutions on different days to see if I could eradicate them. Solutions tried included ethanol, ammonia, and dilute acid remember all on different days with flushing with copious amounts of water. All to no avail. Our contract pest control company identified the insect as a grain beetle and said they feed on mold or other biological material that may grow in the sink. The "P" trap was removed from the sink to check for insects, none were observed. The pest control person suggested applying a spray insecticide to the drain that would kill the larvae and eggs which is what we wound up doing. The chemical used was called Nyguard. Two applications were done one on Sept. 15 and one on Oct. 7. We checked the sink daily and vacuumed up insects observed on the bottom of the cups All art had already been removed from the lab and we kept the drains covered to monitor insects. We vacuumed them up when we saw them in the translucent cup blocking the drain. It took over a month until we felt they were all gone. It is interesting that you have the same problem in the fall. We are about one month ahead of you seasonally. Sincerely, Suzanne Suzanne Hargrove Head of Conservation Toledo Museum of Art 2445 Monroe St. Toledo, OH 43620 tel. 419-254-5771 X7460 fax. 419-254-5773 shargr...@toledomuseum.org >>> "Louis Sorkin" <sor...@amnh.org> 10/12/2010 4:01 PM >>> This is a message from the Pest Management Database List. To post to this list send it as an email to pestlist@museumpests.net To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. -----------------------------------------------------------
If identification is correct, could there be a stored cache of food by rodents and that's what's infested? > Hello all, > > My name is Ryan Jones, and I am the IPM Specialist for the Colonial > Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, VA. > > We have recently encountered a problem in one of our museums that we would > like to get your input on. > > Approximately two months ago, we had a section of wood flooring torn out > near one of the galleries in the DeWitt Wallace Art Museum. Around that > time, we began to see large numbers of small, unidentified red beetles > that were roughly 1/8 inch long in an office that was 150-200 feet away > from the work-site. We sent these beetles off to a nearby university to be > identified, and, to our surprise, the specimens were identified as Square > Necked Grain Beetles. As you know, Square Necked Grain Beetles are a > stored product pest that would likely be right at home inside a container > of corn meal, flour, or other food product. We have been puzzled, however, > about how they could live in such large numbers in an art museum. > > I have researched these insects online and have found no evidence that > they would be able to survive in a subfloor or wall void without a food > substance to sustain them. We have inspected the surrounding workshops > and mechanical rooms, break room, and other areas that might play host to > an infestation of these insects, but have had no luck finding a source. > The beetles continue to be found in some of our textile displays, on the > wood floor beside the baseboards in sporadic areas throughout the museum, > in hallways adjacent to the gallery, and in large numbers in the office > where they were originally spotted. > > What are your thoughts on how we can get rid of these pests? > > Can Square Necked Grain Beetles thrive in an art gallery, or is there a > possibility that the insect was misidentified? > > Is it possible that these beetles can invade from outside? (One of the > common denominators seems to be that the sightings occur in close > proximity to an exterior wall.) > > I am prepared to take pictures of the insects or send samples if need be > to clarify what we are dealing with. I have reviewed pictures of this > beetle online and the specimens look exactly like the ones we are seeing. > > Any help with this would be greatly appreciated. > > Thanks, > > Ryan Jones > > Integrated Pest Management > Specialist > > [cid:image003.jpg@01CB6A20.D504A420] > P.O. Box 1776 > Williamsburg, VA 23187 > > (757) 220-7080 > rjo...@cwf.org<mailto:rjo...@cwf.org> > > -- Please consider the environment before printing this e-mail Louis N. Sorkin, B.C.E. Entomology Section Division of Invertebrate Zoology American Museum of Natural History Central Park West at 79th Street New York, NY 10024-5192 phone: 212-769-5613 fax: 212-769-5277 email: sor...@amnh.org The New York Entomological Society, Inc. email: n...@amnh.org web: www.nyentsoc.org Online journal from 2001 forward www.BioOne.org ------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to pestl...@museumpests.com To unsubscribe from this list send an email to imail...@museumpests.net and in the body put: "unsubscribe pestlist" Any problems email l...@zaks.com
