Thank you Barbara, No beetle / Coleoptera infestation was spotted, either on collection objects (again, mostly inorganic there) or on the display case materials. I found one old shed larvae skin of Anthrenus on an open display object in another room, but it appeared old. More monitoring with insect traps will hopefully help. I’ll come back to the list if I manage to catch samples during my next visit to Nairobi.
Many thanks, Helene From: pestlist@googlegroups.com <pestlist@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Barbara Rosy Ines Manachini Sent: 29 March 2022 21:30 To: 'Helene Delaunay' via MuseumPests <pestlist@googlegroups.com> Subject: Re: [PestList] Help with Kenyan insect i.d. please + question relating to webbing found on barkcloth CAUTION: This mail originated from OUTSIDE the British Museum network. Treat hyperlinks and attachments in this email with caution. If you have any doubts, please contact IS Support. Hi Helene, I agree with Tony. It looks like as Hymenoptera Braconidae a parasitic wasp (similar to the genus Spathius) . Do you have an infestation of Coleoptera Anobidae? However also Dermistidae are reported to be parasitised by Braconidae. Sincerely Barbara 'Helene Delaunay' via MuseumPests <pestlist@googlegroups.com<mailto:pestlist@googlegroups.com>> ha scritto: Hello, I wonder if someone could help with the identification of this insect, found at the back of a painting on goat hide in a museum in Nairobi, Kenya. The three photos are of the same insect under different angles. Would anyone know whether it is an endemic pest, and what it feeds on, or just a non-pest insect? What puzzles me is that live flying insects of a similar size were spotted in one of the showcases of the museum in a nearby room. I tried to catch one of these but failed! (there was no insect trap) The showcase contains only inorganic materials, apart from a few unaffected amber beads. The insects have left webbing on the barkcloth lining the back of the showcase which is used as a background for the display. Debris were also spotted on a glass shelf (see photos 001 & 004). There is no obvious grazing on the barkcloth, but “loose webbing” is present behind a display label (photo 005). Is it possible that the insects are not feeding of the barkcloth, but just hatching on it? It seems weird that they would settle in a display case containing inorganic objects, when there are many other display cases nearby, with the same barkcloth background, containing objects made of organic / plant material. I’m trying to gage how likely it is that the infestation could spread to collection objects made of other plant materials and would be grateful if anyone could shed some light on this. Many thanks, Helene Helene Delaunay | Organics Conservator Conservation, Collection Care The British Museum, Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG hdelau...@britishmuseum.org<mailto:hdelau...@britishmuseum.org> | +44 (0) 20 7323 8252 Please note: I work 3 days / week, Monday to Wednesday. Email status: OFFICIAL Barbara Manachini DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURAL, FOOD AND FOREST SCIENCES (SAAF) University of Palermo Viale delle Scienze, 13 90128 Palermo ITALY E-mail barbara.manach...@unipa.it<mailto:barbara.manach...@unipa.it> Tel. (+39) 091 238 91827 -- 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<mailto:pestlist+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com>. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/20220329223006.Horde.rBHU6bRtia45CSfo9fZrqY4%40webmail.unipa.it<https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/20220329223006.Horde.rBHU6bRtia45CSfo9fZrqY4%40webmail.unipa.it?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer>. -- 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/DB7PR02MB418590A8C28FFC03E43D1D98A01F9%40DB7PR02MB4185.eurprd02.prod.outlook.com.
