They are mites, and they probably aren't a threat to your collections. We have mites in our collection storage spaces as well, but ours aren't as big. The ones I find are never bigger than a psocid, but yours appears to be as big as a dermestid larvae?
I'm not an expert, but I have theories! I'm pretty sure our mites eat micro-fungi. I find them in the same spaces where I find booklice. I also only find them in traps placed on the floor, for the most part. Our floors are linoleum tile with small gaps between the tiles. I suspect both the mites and the psocids primarily inhabit these spaces, which even in rooms with good climate control will maintain a nice environment for small amounts of fungi to grow. I'm very curious to hear what thoughts others have about these. Alan *Alan Van Dyke, *Senior Preservation Technician Harry Ransom Center <http://www.hrc.utexas.edu> The University of Texas at Austin <http://www.utexas.edu> P.O. Drawer 7219 Austin, Texas 78713-7219 P: 512-232-4614 <https://www.hrc.utexas.edu/> On Wed, Sep 28, 2022 at 3:32 PM Lind, Mike <mike.l...@walkerart.org> wrote: > Hello all! > > I am hoping someone can help me identify the pests in the attached photos. > I suspect some kind of mite. They were just barely visible to the naked > eye, but I did notice one crawling around, leading me to inspect it under > the microscope. I found several on the sticky trap. (Ignore the odd beetle > larva on IMG_0130.jpg) > > Are these mites any concern to a museum collection? > > Thanks and all the best, > Mike Lind (he/him) > Collections Management Coordinator > - > Walker Art Center > 725 Vineland Place > Minneapolis, MN 55403 > - > 612-253-3560 > mike.l...@walkerart.org > > -- > 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/CH0PR10MB4938D8B9E3D511E34FA03BB9E4549%40CH0PR10MB4938.namprd10.prod.outlook.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CH0PR10MB4938D8B9E3D511E34FA03BB9E4549%40CH0PR10MB4938.namprd10.prod.outlook.com?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/CAHhLO3Z0oTqU-No23XtfM%2BGh%2BujUFEx0cdXNkJn81pNXwuvr%2BQ%40mail.gmail.com.
