This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- Ah, I misunderstood. This is an infestation in a residence? When you said "tenant house," I thought it was some kind of historic home museum!
I don't have any answers for you about why the sudden population explosion. In my experience, if a reclusive pest is being bold enough to walk across the wall in the middle of the day, it could be a sign that there is a huge population and they're seeking new food sources. It sounds like bad news. Do you have any idea what the basement ceiling is made of? Could the ceiling itself be a food source? Is it an older building with horsehair plaster? From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jones, Robert (Ryan) Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 4:21 PM To: '[email protected]' Subject: [pestlist] RE: Varied Carpet Beetle? This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- In Virginia, we typically have a surge of CB larval activity in late November, so I am not surprised to find a few of these little guys out and about. What surprises me in this instance is the uncharacteristic lack of concealment combined with the sheer volume of the larval population. As well as being seen in closets (on clothes), the larvae are crawling around out in the open on walls, the top sides of area rugs, on furniture, etc.. This behavior is not typical in any of the previous CB flare-ups I have dealt with. Even with relatively heavy larval concentrations, they usually seem to be pretty reclusive. My initial take on the situation was that the tenant had introduced an infested object into the house. I asked about this possibility, and he said he had indeed been working on a horse-hair stuffed repro chair that could have been the culprit. I questioned him carefully about when/ where he first noticed activity, but he was unable to pinpoint a time or place where the problem started. According to him, they just sort of exploded. Even if the chair or the tree were the source, how could the larvae have spread so quickly (over the course of two-three weeks) throughout every room in a two-story house? And why are there large concentrations of pupal casings stuck to the ceiling of the basement? To me, this would indicate an infestation a bit more extensive than an infested object. But if I am dealing with a well-rooted infestation that is just now simmering over, why haven't the tenants noticed activity before? No easy answers to this one! From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Morgan, Amber Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 3:29 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [pestlist] RE: Varied Carpet Beetle? This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hi Ryan, Oh yeah, those are carpet beetles. I'm not an entomologist, but there are a few thoughts I'm having about your sudden outbreak. First of all, have you acquired any new objects or received any shipments recently? Carpet beetles are excellent hitchhikers. You mentioned a Christmas tree - tell us more about that. Is it a real tree? Carpet beetles love bird nests, and birds love to make nests in pine trees. Is it an artificial tree? Was it stored somewhere throughout the year? If so, you might want to look in that location for signs of trouble. Secondly, and this would be something I'd like an entomologist to confirm, I wonder if the weather this year is a contributing factor. You guys are having weather in the 60s, correct? If you had some cold weather, and then it suddenly got much warmer, that could have kicked their life cycle into gear prematurely. I know other insects are affected by this (I saw mosquitos in PA yesterday) so I'm assuming an explosion of carpet beetles in December could work the same way. As for the missing adults, there are plenty of insects out there that will eat dead adult beetles. Do you have a lot of spiders? Don't forget, carpet beetle larvae eat animal-based products and proteins, which, in my experience, includes dead beetles. Your best option will be to try to find the source, although it sounds like they're pretty widespread so it's likely multiple sources at this point. You said you pulled these ones from the basement ceiling - is it a drop ceiling? Can you get into the ceiling at all to find out what's going on in there? Good luck. I have some experience dealing with these things. Feel free to give me a call. Amber the warhol: Amber E. Morgan Associate Registrar 117 Sandusky Street Pittsburgh, PA 15212 T 412.237.8306 F 412.237.8340 E [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> W www.warhol.org<http://www.warhol.org/> The Andy Warhol Museum One of the four Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh Email newsletter http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/email Membership http://members.carnegiemuseums.org/SupportCMP warhol: facebook<http://www.facebook.com/thewarholmuseum> | warhol: twitter<http://www.twitter.com/thewarholmuseum> From: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jones, Robert (Ryan) Sent: Monday, December 17, 2012 12:34 PM To: [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> Subject: [pestlist] Varied Carpet Beetle? This is a message from the Museumpests List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe please look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- All, Just making sure this is what I think it is....Varied or possibly Furniture carpet beetle larva/casings? Has anyone on the list experienced a sudden outbreak of these critters? I have a situation in a tenant house where larvae have gone from being non-existent to being extremely visible. Larvae are currently being seen in the basement and on the 1st/2nd floors - closets, clothes, area rugs, under the Christmas tree....even food in the pantry. Casings pictured above were removed from the basement ceiling; they are attached in groups of three or four at various intervals throughout the basement. I had always thought this type of larvae was recluse, but these seem to be highly mobile. I just can't fathom that many eggs being distributed on three floors during the summer without adult beetles being noticed in windowsills. Any thoughts are appreciated. Thx, Ryan Jones Integrated Pest Management Specialist [Colonial_Williamsburg_Logo.jpg] P.O. Box 1776 Williamsburg, VA 23187 (757) 220-7080 [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. 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To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> or [email protected]<mailto:[email protected]> The information contained in this message and/or attachments is intended only for the person or entity to which it is addressed and may contain confidential and/or privileged material. Any review, retransmission, dissemination or other use of, or taking of any action in reliance upon, this information by persons or entities other than the intended recipient is prohibited. If you received this in error, please contact the sender and delete the material from any system and destroy any copies. Any views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To send an email to the list, send your msg to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected] and in the subject put: "unsubscribe" - no quotes please. You are receiving the Pestlist emails in standard mode. To change to the DIGEST mode send an email to [email protected] with this command in the body: set mode digest pestlist Any problems email [email protected] or [email protected]
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