Series editors' preface - Wood Tools

270 Conservation of Furniture
level that gives serious cause for concern but
traps must be periodically replaced to retain
their efficiency. A regular ‘insect sighting’
reporting procedure for all staff together with
specimen collection is useful. When insect
activity of any sort is observed, it should be
reported to the curator and to relevant conservation
staff. Regular (twice yearly) cleaning of
storerooms will disturb possible habitats and
give occasion to check traps. It is most
efficient to assign overall responsibility for
scheduling the work and delegating the
various duties to one person.
A powerful torch is an essential item of
equipment as is a good plan of the building
on all floors and a log book into which all
information is recorded. If the numbers can be
transferred to a spreadsheet this is even better.
If damage is found it is helpful to photograph
it so that future inspections can detect any
change that might have occurred. Adult carpet
beetles and furniture beetles are most likely to
be seen in late spring and early summer,
especially in June. If live insects are found on
freshly damaged material, it is likely that the
two events are connected. However, it is still
desirable to get a positive identification to
establish that the insect species that has been
found is responsible for the damage seen. If
doubt exists then an experienced entomologist
should be consulted. The control measures to
be adopted will depend on the nature and
extent of the damage, the presence or absence
of other objects at risk and the ease with
which the affected area or object can be
isolated or removed. No single control method
is appropriate to all circumstances, it is therefore
important to consider carefully how effective
control of the insect can best be achieved
without causing damage to objects or harm to
personnel.
Identification Identification usually requires
careful examination of an intact adult specimen
cross-referenced with a suitable text such as
Mourier and Winding (1986) or Pinniger (1994,
2001). Some larvae, for example that of the
Guernsey carpet beetle (Anthrenus sarnicus),
may be distinctive enough to allow a positive
identification. Some beetles, such as the
common furniture beetle, biscuit beetle
(Stegobium paniceum) and the brown carpet
beetle (Attagenus smirnovi) may be confused
by the untrained eye. Exit holes and frass may
be used to identify many wood-boring insects
(Hickin, 1975). Identifying the insect will allow
likely habitats and food sources to be identified.
The presence of large numbers of live
insects usually indicate a serious infestation.
The extent and level of activity of the infestation
is often monitored, but cannot be
controlled, by the use of adhesive ‘blunder’
traps which may incorporate pheromones. It is
usually necessary to examine individual objects,
displays, rooms or the building itself in order
to establish the likely route/s of ingress, sources
of food and environmental conditions such as
elevated local temperature or relative humidity
which contribute to insect activity (Child, 1997).
Measures such as screens on windows, regular
cleaning or elimination of ‘dead’ spaces, or, for
example, treatment of unused ducting with a
residual pesticide, will help prevent or limit the
spread of insect infestation.
Treatment The principal aspects of treating
active woodworm infestation and damage are
to quarantine the affected object/s, to kill all
stages of the life cycle of the insect present in
the object, to repair structural damage, to
disguise the disfigurement caused by flight
holes if necessary (discussed in Chapters 13
and 14) and to reduce the likelihood of
reinfestation.
The first stage of treatment is to isolate or
enclose the affected object/s. Individual items
may be sealed into a polythene plastic bubble.
Although furniture beetle will chew through
materials applied to wood, such as leather and
lead foil, in order to exit the object, they are
unlikely to bore through isolating material
once they have emerged from the object.
Treatment for insect infestation can be
broadly characterized by three strategies –
insecticidal treatments, temperature-based
treatments and low oxygen atmospheres.
Insecticides may be applied directly to the
object, usually dissolved in a hydrocarbon
solvent, or by fumigation. Water-based formulations,
developed as an alternative to solventcarried
insecticides, are unsuitable for finished
domestic furniture because they penetrate
wood poorly whilst causing the fibres to swell
and stain (Pinniger and Child, 1996). Care
should be taken when a painted or decorated
surface is being treated as some formulations