Hi Tara I’m not familiar with any bugs eating the pollen. You may get psocids (book lice) feeding on mould and damaging the pollen, but otherwise it’s normally the leaves, etc., that are attacked. Aside from the possibility of the pollen attracting bugs (e.g. releasing pheromones to attract insects that aid in pollination), I don’t think there’s much risk. I’m actually working at the herbarium here in Sydney in a few hours and I’ll ask them if they’re aware of issues and/or preventive measures for pollen storage. We’ve looked at barrier bags to reduce damage to plants by herbarium beetles (Stegobium). In fact we’re looking at creating a large barrier bag (to store boxes in nitrogen) that will enclose thousands of the most vulnerable specimens. You might also want to contact some of the people working in herbariums, as they should have information on the risks with storing herbaria/pollen, and ideas for storage. Best wishes Alex
On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 11:54 AM artwarpllc <artwarp...@gmail.com> wrote: > Hi Alex, > > I am preparing an IPM plan for an archaeological collection with pollen > specimens in storage. I am wondering if there is reason to be concerned > that pollen specimens might attract moths and beetles that will feed on the > pollen and/or other materials in the museum collection. Are there any > recommendations for how to store archaeological pollen to protect it from > pests and to prevent it from attracting pests into museum collections? > > Thanks again, > Tara > > On Thursday, February 18, 2021 at 2:27:29 PM UTC-7 Alex Roach wrote: > >> Hi Tara >> An entomologist told me once that ants had tracked into a seed >> store/bank, attracted to pollen, and had taken seeds from the collection. >> Is this what you’re experiencing or are there bugs in the collection? >> Best wishes >> Alex >> >> On Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 6:29 AM artwarpllc <artwa...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >>> Does anyone in the group have experience with insects feeding on >>> archaeological pollen specimens? >>> >>> Thank you, >>> Tara >>> >>> -- >>> 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 pestlist+u...@googlegroups.com. >>> To view this discussion on the web visit >>> https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/850279bd-fcf4-4f1c-9610-f30566a05ed1n%40googlegroups.com >>> <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/850279bd-fcf4-4f1c-9610-f30566a05ed1n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> >>> . >>> >> -- >> *Alex Roach* >> *Director* >> Modified Atmospheres >> *M:* 0414 663 472 >> ABN: 66 164 577 557 >> > -- > 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 pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/08d20484-ea53-46aa-b95d-d611a5960f90n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/08d20484-ea53-46aa-b95d-d611a5960f90n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- *Alex Roach* *Director* Modified Atmospheres *M:* 0414 663 472 ABN: 66 164 577 557 -- 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 pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAOt7HWDXM4At8MNAJVt6wgvmTGLLs34FDWiGvYUvjCdkseyZBg%40mail.gmail.com.
