Thanks for that Thomas.
I thought that WCM would eat skin as they attack taxidermy specimens,
leather and dried animal remains or is it only the fur, hair and
feathers they eat? I'm starting to realise our collections would be a
lot safer if we didn't let the public in the our museums. :-)
On 29 Apr 2010, at 19:50, bugma...@aol.com wrote:
Heather -
When I give an IPPM lecture, I tell my audience a visitor drops 3
hairs and one fingernail per visit. WCM larvae will readily feed
on the hair, but usually not the fingernails. Carpet beetles will
feed on the fingernails. I know of nothing, which will damage
collections, which will feed on skin cells. The public doesn't
drop feathers. Generally I have found younger instars feeding on
the debris in cracks between floor boards and bricks in a museum.
Although I haven't seen it, I am assuming in a large public museum,
there's enough protein debris for a WCM larva to complete its
development and pupate utilizing the protein materials dropped by
the public.
Thomas A. Parker, PhD
President, Entomologist
Pest Control Services, Inc.
