I definitely defer to Zoë concerning heat treatment. Alan
*Alan Van Dyke * Senior Preservation Technician Harry Ransom Center The University of Texas at Austin P.O. Drawer 7219 Austin, Texas 78713-7219 P: 512-232-4614 www.hrc.utexas.edu <http://hrc.utexas.edu> On Mon, Dec 20, 2021 at 11:47 AM Dawn, Melissa <melissa.d...@montana.edu> wrote: > Thank you for the additional suggestions, Zoë and Alan. We appreciate > your help so much. I'll discuss these options with the paleo team as well. > Thank you! > > Melissa > > *Melissa Dawn* > > Interim Registrar & Collections Manager > > Division of the Humanities > > > *Museum of the Rockies* > > melissa.d...@montana.edu > > 406.994.2242 > > 600 West Kagy Blvd. > > PO Box 172720 > > Bozeman, MT 59717 > ------------------------------ > *From:* pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> on behalf > of Zoe Hughes <z.hug...@nhm.ac.uk> > *Sent:* Monday, December 20, 2021 9:13 AM > *To:* pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> > *Subject:* RE: [PestList] Dermestid beetles potentially infesting fossil > specimens > > > Hi Everyone, > > > > I would not recommend heat treatment, you may alter the chemistry of the > minerals/ damage them. Nor would I recommend freezing. We visually check > for pests, and ensure that when material is coming in any old packing > materials have been replaced (as this is the larger issue when harbouring > pests is concerned). Is it possible to remove the specimens from the > plaster jackets to do this? > > > > There won’t be anything for the beetles to live on, so you could just seal > them in with the specimen to contain them temporarily while you come up > with a solution. > > > > Happy to help further if I can > > > > Zoë > > > > > > Zoë Hughes > > Curator of Brachiopods and Cephalopods > > Department of Earth Sciences > > The Natural History Museum > > Cromwell Road > > London > > SW7 5BD > > > > T +44 (0)20 7942 5470 > > E z.hug...@nhm.ac.uk > > > > Follow the collections on Twitter: > > @NHM_Brachiopoda > > @NHM_Cephalopoda > > > > Please note that from January 01 2011, the museum’s preferred acronym for > specimen citations is* NHMUK* > > > > > > > > *From:* pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> *On Behalf > Of *Alan P Van Dyke > *Sent:* 20 December 2021 16:05 > *To:* pestlist@googlegroups.com > *Subject:* Re: [PestList] Dermestid beetles potentially infesting fossil > specimens > > > > I'm not too familiar with fossils, but my understanding is that they are > mineral rather than organic. If that's the case, would a heat treatment > work? Perhaps in an oven at 120F / 50C for 24 hours? Afterwards, maybe a > three month quarantine. The good news is if the fossils are clean there > won't be much for the dermestids to munch on. > > > > Hopefully someone with more experience will chime in. > > > Alan > > > > *Alan Van Dyke * > > Senior Preservation Technician > > Harry Ransom Center > The University of Texas at Austin > P.O. Drawer 7219 > Austin, Texas 78713-7219 > P: 512-232-4614 > www.hrc.utexas.edu > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.hrc.utexas.edu%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cmelissa.dawn%40montana.edu%7Cce2e4fd5be2f41a1b8cc08d9c3d3a348%7C324aa97a03a644fc91e43846fbced113%7C0%7C0%7C637756136795553612%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=vIk%2FD7qZ8VJWUFMURZcdsqndVHKO%2B8t6BseabWbJBeY%3D&reserved=0> > > > > > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fhrc.utexas.edu%2F&data=04%7C01%7Cmelissa.dawn%40montana.edu%7Cce2e4fd5be2f41a1b8cc08d9c3d3a348%7C324aa97a03a644fc91e43846fbced113%7C0%7C0%7C637756136795553612%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=h%2B1o0zKU4xyIHSlwTzn7VlR2cACXbxB3Y0bWzU99BEo%3D&reserved=0> > > > > > > On Thu, Dec 16, 2021 at 10:09 PM Dawn, Melissa <melissa.d...@montana.edu> > wrote: > > Dear Pestlist, > > > > I have an unusual question I am desperately hoping someone can help Museum > Of The Rockies with today. Our paleontology department took several large > fossils over to our university for use in a class. A graduate student left > a jar of dermestid beetles open overnight. Yes, that happened. Thousands of > beetles escaped the jar and have now been in contact with the fossils. It > is unknown if there are any beetles inside the fossils, but they are in > jackets and also have many crevices, so we must assume there may be some > beetles inside the specimens. We do not have a freezer for controlled low > temperature treatment at our museum. (We don’t know if the university labs > may have one, but even if they do, we don’t know if we would be able to use > it, so we are hoping to find a different method we can do ourselves.) Other > than freezing, does anyone have suggestions for the proper protocols for > treatment? E.g., suggestions for what we can do with them, how long they > should be quarantined before they return to the museum, or if there’s a way > to keep them separated in the museum, when will it be safe to return them > to the collection, etc. Perhaps someone has experience with reckless > students allowing beetles to invade collections… It is rather cold in > Montana right now, but it hasn’t been getting to -20! > > > > Thank you for any advice you may have, > > Melissa > > > > *Melissa Dawn* > > Interim Registrar & Collections Manager > > Division of the Humanities > > > > *Museum of the Rockies* > > melissa.d...@montana.edu > > 406.994.2242 > > 600 West Kagy Blvd. > > PO Box 172720 > > Bozeman, MT 59717 > > -- > 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/MWHPR02MB3229B10FA7437A9E5B66212588789%40MWHPR02MB3229.namprd02.prod.outlook.com > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fpestlist%2FMWHPR02MB3229B10FA7437A9E5B66212588789%2540MWHPR02MB3229.namprd02.prod.outlook.com%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=04%7C01%7Cmelissa.dawn%40montana.edu%7Cce2e4fd5be2f41a1b8cc08d9c3d3a348%7C324aa97a03a644fc91e43846fbced113%7C0%7C0%7C637756136795553612%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=O9ndeBKR8AhLNxhy%2Bf8mj%2F3J4rCKSzxrnEN4Xfgd%2BLE%3D&reserved=0> > . > > -- > 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/CAHhLO3bpQ8%3DHKNuBSf%2BZeuYm2CNNBvhuVqp-h-vVfsQeO%2B%2B9Xg%40mail.gmail.com > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fpestlist%2FCAHhLO3bpQ8%253DHKNuBSf%252BZeuYm2CNNBvhuVqp-h-vVfsQeO%252B%252B9Xg%2540mail.gmail.com%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=04%7C01%7Cmelissa.dawn%40montana.edu%7Cce2e4fd5be2f41a1b8cc08d9c3d3a348%7C324aa97a03a644fc91e43846fbced113%7C0%7C0%7C637756136795553612%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=%2BzDIrrBs2IJNFNYuq1INBh7gBlM2SvWx9ayo4f%2FJMFA%3D&reserved=0> > . > > -- > 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/LO0P265MB4798A2B60DAE4878CC181E58DD7B9%40LO0P265MB4798.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM > <https://nam10.safelinks.protection.outlook.com/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fgroups.google.com%2Fd%2Fmsgid%2Fpestlist%2FLO0P265MB4798A2B60DAE4878CC181E58DD7B9%2540LO0P265MB4798.GBRP265.PROD.OUTLOOK.COM%3Futm_medium%3Demail%26utm_source%3Dfooter&data=04%7C01%7Cmelissa.dawn%40montana.edu%7Cce2e4fd5be2f41a1b8cc08d9c3d3a348%7C324aa97a03a644fc91e43846fbced113%7C0%7C0%7C637756136795553612%7CUnknown%7CTWFpbGZsb3d8eyJWIjoiMC4wLjAwMDAiLCJQIjoiV2luMzIiLCJBTiI6Ik1haWwiLCJXVCI6Mn0%3D%7C3000&sdata=%2FcKbI844SlqtjKyT%2FUwM6vsQgQNAjs9FpuwpkzSb5ak%3D&reserved=0> > . > > -- > 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/MWHPR02MB3229B77BB17BB1C4DADDDBC7887B9%40MWHPR02MB3229.namprd02.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/MWHPR02MB3229B77BB17BB1C4DADDDBC7887B9%40MWHPR02MB3229.namprd02.prod.outlook.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "MuseumPests" group. 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