[Lyndell Bade]

I have recently taken on the responsibilities of managing the natural history museum collection in the Department of Biology here at Colby College (Maine). This is predominantly a teaching collection made up of study skins of mammals and taxidermy specimens and study skins of birds. We also have a large number of preserved specimens in wet conditions, as well as an extensive mollusk and marine invertebrate collection.

Right now storage and preservation techniques require updating, but my immediate question is on the use of mothballs as a pest deterrent. Is this still a common practice in small museums and teaching collections? Does anyone here have experience with it? I don’t find it mentioned at all in pest control literature. What do you all think about the use of mothballs? Effective? Useful? Dangerous? What could I transition us to that wouldn’t be quite so odorous and might be more effective?

Thank you for your help!

[Evelyn]

No mothballs are not a good idea and the off gases may do more harm to the collection. What kind of pests? rodents? traps are the only useful way to deal with them. Moths? bugs? How sealed is your collections storage? If it is sealed, freeze the specimens to kill already existing pests then place them back into the sealed room. You may have to remove all of them and slowly move them back in after freezing. The typical cycle for freezing is two days in, one day out, two days in.

[Lyndell Bade]

Thank you, Evelyn! I suspected that might be the case…

I don’t think rodents are a problem, it’s mostly insects, although I honestly don’t know what kind. Yet. The cases themselves are in pretty good shape–although I can’t get them all closed–and there are some major concerns with the storage location of the cabinets. Not sure there’s much to do about that at the moment, but let’s just say that I don’t think there will be any point to freezing specimens only to return them to less than ideal conditions.

Any suggestions about types of insect traps to use? I think I need to start by monitoring so I can see what our problem is and then figure out how to remedy it….

[Evelyn]

You can purchase moth traps at most pest control companies, they will trap some of the moths but not all. Not sure what other commercial traps are out there but a pest control company may be able to advise.

[Carolyn Schimandle]

We recently needed crawling insect sticky traps for silverfish and found out the Home Depot even carries them now in the pest control aisle. No harmful chemicals, just glue. The moth traps I’ve used have a pheromone lure. Available on Amazon, but they may be available at Home Depot now too. I wasn’t looking for them when I picked up the general crawling insect traps.

[Malia]

As others have said, avoid the mothballs and start monitoring with sticky traps. You will need to identify your insects to determine which targeted traps to purchase. MuseumPests.net is a great resource for identification of insect pests. You might also try your local university entomology department, sometimes they will have pictures to help id pests common in your region. Insects Limited sells some traps designed for specific moths and beetles, if you can get confirmation on what type of insects you have.

[Lyndell Bade]

Thank you, Evelyn, Carolyn, and Malia! I really appreciate your feedback! I will certainly go check Home Depot and start with sticky traps. Luckily I already have access to entomologists here in the biology department, so I’m not as concerned with the identification of pests as I am in the entrapment/removal and treatment of specimens. But first things first–get rid of the mothballs!

Thanks so much!

[Author]

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