Why Do We Monitor for Pests?
The first step in our IPM protocol is monitoring for insects and other pests. It is important to recognize that no building is hermetically sealed and, even with the best procedures in place, pests are already present and/or will find a way in. Therefore, monitoring their activity is essential to gain knowledge about what pests are present in the museum and where. This allows for the planning and execution of effective solutions to reduce ways in which pests can access collections and mitigate their presence as much as possible.
What Types of Monitoring Are There?
The Peabody Museum employs two primary methods of monitoring for pests. The first method is the regular and systematic identification of pests found on insect monitoring traps strategically placed throughout the museum. By having consistent trap locations and inspections it is possible to identify “hot spots” as well as track both short- and long-term trends throughout the museum. The second method we use to monitor is by encouraging assistance from museum staff. All staff members are educated about the threats of pests to the collection and are instructed to alert the Integrated Pest Management Coordinator of any pest sightings via an easy-to-access online form.
How Do We Identify Pests?
Pests are identified by closely inspecting the insect monitoring traps that are placed around the museum. The traps are collected and assessed by the Integrated Pest Management Coordinator on a regular basis. This consists of viewing each trap underneath a microscope and identifying all the pests that are present, categorizing them by level of threat, and cataloging them. This data is recorded in a database that can then be manipulated to discern information about the locations with the highest densities of pests in the museum, identify trends in the growth of populations of the more problematic pests, and can even be used to identify issues with the building’s envelope.
Which Pests Are Problematic for Collections?
Some pests pose a higher risk for the Museum’s collections than others and are broken down into groups primarily based on their desired food sources. From lowest to highest risk, the pests are grouped into damp-loving pests (i.e., psocids, drain flies, moss mites), predators (i.e., spiders, house centipedes), accidental visitors (i.e., lady bugs, ground beetles), and finally, active risks (i.e., silverfish, webbing clothes moths, and carpet beetles).
The first three groups function as indicators. Damp-loving pests indicate areas of moisture or excessive humidity, predators indicate an active and large enough population of other pests to function as a food source, and accidental visitors indicate building envelope issues, such as gaps around windows or doorways. The final group, the active risks, are those that subsist off of the materials that comprise objects within the collection. For example, silverfish are a significant threat to archival paper-based materials, and webbing clothes moths and carpet beetles target animal-based materials including furs, hides, and feathers.
Recently the Peabody Museum was faced with a webbing clothes moth infestation, which posed a major threat to ethnographic collections, such as those housed at the Museum. Visit our Moth Mitigation page to learn more about this project.