Hi Stella Your "moth-indet" is, I think, a caddisfly (Trichoptera), which would explain why you had difficulty identifying it! The absence of scales on the body and wings suggests that it is a caddisfly. Caddis larvae are almost all aquatic, and the adults' presence in the building is accidental (several species are attracted to lights.) As far as I can see, all of the others are mites, but no ticks or baby spiders, so your colleague can rest easy. Your "spider-indet" could be a clover mite (*Bryobia*) which occasionally cause problems if they wander onto people, but are most likely to stay on the vegetation where they normally live. The others include a variety of species, and are likely to be predatory, eating other mites, springtails and booklice, but not humans. Best wishes Tony
Dr A.G.Irwin 47 The Avenues Norwich Norfolk NR2 3PH England mobile: +44(0)7880707834 phone: +44(0)1603 453524 On Mon, 11 Aug 2025 at 13:58, Oppl, Stella <[email protected]> wrote: > Hello fellow pestlisters, > > we have a new depot/collection space and are in the process of > establishing a new IPM routine. Therefore I’m making our own little picture > gallery of pests found in our traps, for the colleagues who do not have the > time to do extended internet research (neither do I but, well). So far we > do not have any infestations or high volumes of threatening insects (not > threatening for archaeological objects, that is). But I would also like to > include non-threatening insects onto that list, so that my colleagues can > rest easy and don’t panic, whenever they see a bug. Luckily we do have a > good high-resolution microscope, which is a great help with google picture > search whenever it is a species I’m not familiar with. At least it helps > getting somewhat in the ballpark of what it is and with a little more > research, I am quite confident, that I have most of them tracked down > successfully. But still, there are some critters whose identification > remains inconclusive. Therefore I was hoping to get some answers from this > community. > > > > Lepidoptera: > > moth-indet_01 > > best result on google: https://lepiforum.org/wiki/page/Aphomia_foedella > > Our little fellow does not have the typical points on the wings that would > identify it as a house moth, it looks more like stripes. But I can’t seem > to match the pattern of the stripes to a specific species. It also doesn’t > have the upwards pointing wings you would usually find in these moth > species. > > > > Arachnids: > > Mite_03, 05, 07, 12 and 09 > > Well, I have to admit that I know very little about the > identification/distinction of mites and ticks. So any help is welcome here. > We do have a colleague who is a little afraid of ticks/meningitis, so it > would help a lot to be at least sure, if we are on the safe side here and > to calm her down. One of our less frequented depots is close to a wide > meadow and some of the colleagues have dogs (not in the depot, but in the > building above), that’s how they might have traveled into our depot > underground. But I am not sure. Are there any other possible ways into a > collection? > > > > Spider_indet_02 and 05 > > I’m also unsure about identifying this species. Is it a little spider, > baby spider or also a mite? These bugs, and the mites from above as well, > are so small, that they sink almost entirely into the glue from the traps, > so that it is almost impossible to get any good pictures from them. I hope > the pictures are good enough. > > > > > > Greetings from Munich, > > Stella > > > > > > > > Stella Oppl > > Archaeological Objects Conservator, MSc > > metals, iron, preventive conservation > > > > > *a _sm* > > > > Bavarian State Archaeological Collection > Lerchenfeldstr. 2 > 80538 Munich > [email protected] > > T +49 (0)89 21124-484 > > www.archaeologie.bayern > > > > Connect with us on Facebook und Instagram! > #asmmuc #archäologischestaatssammlung > > > > -- > 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 [email protected]. > To view this discussion visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/8bd55a21721347afb73ea663ea83ec43%40archaeologie.bayern > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/8bd55a21721347afb73ea663ea83ec43%40archaeologie.bayern?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 [email protected]. To view this discussion visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/pestlist/CAFWqZKPR45fLVYWK8-tchkhu07eFTqgmyfo9XeJyQFQkUpbEHA%40mail.gmail.com.
