Our guest blogger today is Lori Phillips, an IUPUI Museum Studies Graduate Student who completed an internship as the Lilly House Conservation Technician Intern.
Why would one have to know about insects and mice when learning about the ins and outs of the museum world? Just like at home, any building will have some level of pest activity – it’s just a matter of controlling it. This is particularly important in museums where protecting the collection is a top priority.
Oldfields, like any other historic house, poses an interesting dilemma in pest control because the property was not originally created to protect and preserve an important museum collection from the elements. Because of this, the museum must remain diligent in pest management at Oldfields. Luckily for the IMA (and any museum!), there is an entire field called Integrated Pest Management, or IPM, that provides resources and systematic methods for controlling pests. As part of the museum’s overall IPM program, Pat Kelley of Insects Limited Inc. makes monthly visits to each of the museum’s buildings, including Oldfields. Check out this blast-from-the-past blog post to learn about the types of resources Insects Limited provides for museums locally and globally. I’ve now had the opportunity to accompany Pat on multiple visits to Oldfields.
On these trips we clean up areas where insects tend to gather and check traps for any activity. After years of these visits, obvious patterns in pest activity have begun to emerge.
During the more active months of January and February a pile of ladybird beetles is not an uncommon sight, particularly in sunny window wells.
The quantities of pests found in Oldfields are not surprising and have remained under control, thanks to these preventative measures. Ladybird beetles (known colloquially as lady bugs, but don’t call them that if you want to stay friends with an entomologist or a conservator) are by far the most prevalent pest at Oldfields. They tend to gather in and around windows, primarily in the southernmost rooms of the house. The typical pattern of insect activity begins in late October or early November when insects enter through cracks and gaps around doors, windows, and the roof line. The insects fill wall voids and attic spaces where they hibernate over the winter. They then emerge in the first warm days of January and February in an attempt to return outdoors. When they find themselves inside the home instead of outside they accumulate near the windows and die. These insects are predominately ladybird beetles, but also include some boxelder beetles, pine seed bugs, and cluster flies. Ladybird beetles themselves do not pose a major threat to the house or objects.
Filed under: Conservation
