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Pest Damage

Posted 3/1/2011 12:03 AM by Richard Busch | Comments

Small pests called Dermestids caused this damage. Dermestids are beetle larvae that eat dead and dried tissue -- that which makes up these moths. The can also infest taxidermy mounts, animal hides and skeletal material. As you can see in this picture, they are fully capable of destroying museum specimens and we actively monitor for their presence. This display was removed from a pest mitigation freezer a few months ago and we now keep it as an example of what can happen if areas of the collection go unmonitored for too long.