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Hi Jessica, It looks like a carpet beetle, Anthrenus sp. In a natural history museum setting, this would be cause for a red alert as Dermestid larvae feed on animal products, e.g. hides, furs, feathers, dried insects, pretty much anything in a zoology collection. In an art collection, it depends on the type of materials in your collection, but I’d say they are still cause for concern. They may have come in on plants or through an open door. You should start monitoring immediately to determine whether you have a one-off or a problem brewing. Start an IPM program if there isn’t one in place. Start educating yourself on pest management practices (or appoint someone) so you can educate other staff – if they’ve been used to doing things one way for a long time, it may take a while to retrain them with new habits. Get to know your facilities people and become good friends with them! Bug Guide is a good resource for identification. Here’s a link to the genus Anthrenus: http://bugguide.net/index.php?q=search&keys=anthrenus&search=Search We have plants in our building in specific areas but do so under supervision by our horticultural staff. Potted plants are not permitted near items from the collections. We also have live animals and work with those staff charged with their care to ensure that the institution’s pest management policies work for everyone. Dawn Dawn Roberts | Director of Collections The Chicago Academy of Sciences / Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum 2430 North Cannon Drive, Chicago, IL 60614 | www.naturemuseum.org Collections Facility and Office 4001 N Ravenswood Avenue, suite 201, Chicago, IL 60613 | 773-755-5125 The Urban Gateway to Nature and Science From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Jessica Farling Sent: Tuesday, June 27, 2017 5:25 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [pestlist] Policies for Pest Control This is a message from the Museumpests.net List. To post to this list send it as an email to [email protected] To unsubscribe look at the footer of this email. ----------------------------------------------------------- Hi everyone, I just started as director/curator for the Southern Utah Museum of Art, which is located on the campus of Southern Utah University. When I arrived last week, I was alarmed to see potted plants not only in offices but also in a gallery! Today, I spotted an insect. Can you help me identify it? Image attached. Also, if you have policies to help your museums avoid pests, would you be willing to share them with me? I need to implement those best practices here, but I'm not sure where to start. Any resources you might have would be appreciated! Sincerely, Jessica Farling Director/Curator Southern Utah Museum of Art 351 W. University Blvd. Cedar City, UT 84720 www.suu.edu/suma P: (435) 586-5433 | F: (435) 865-8012 [email protected] <https://docs.google.com/uc?export=download&id=0B-5-yrwUL8YMMkowSmlFZVJNMEU&revid=0B-5-yrwUL8YMcXNTWER5TUdzUEhZTzlvSDJjTG05QWkvRHhJPQ> ------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected] and in the body put: "unsubscribe pestlist" Any problems email [email protected] ------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe from this list send an email to [email protected] and in the body put: "unsubscribe pestlist" Any problems email [email protected]
