Abstract:
The skin beetle Reesa vespulae is regularly found beyond North America where it originated. The larvae cause considerable concern in museums, as they damage hides or furs in addition to being a special source of damage to collections of dried plants in herbaria or collections of insects and other zoological specimens. Reesa vespulae arrived in Europe in the mid-20th century and was associated mostly with stored food products, but over time, it has become recognised as a museum pest. Although it is still uncommon and may only be observed in a small fraction of museums, when the insect is found in large numbers, it can cause problems. Catches from blunder traps in Austrian museums and from an online database in the UK were used to track changing concern over the insect. As a single female beetle can continue to reproduce because the species is parthenogenetic, its presence can persist over long periods of time. Although small populations in museums are typically found in the adult form, the larval forms are more common where a site is infested by high numbers, perhaps because the larvae and adults must range more widely for food. Although R. vespulae can be controlled using pesticides, it is also possible to kill the larvae within infested materials through freezing or anoxia.
摘要:
皮肤甲虫Reesavespulae经常在北美以外的地方发现。幼虫在博物馆中引起了极大的关注,因为它们损害皮革或毛皮,除了是对草本植物中的干植物集合或昆虫和其他动物标本集合的特殊损害来源。Reesavespulae在20世纪中叶到达欧洲,主要与储存的食品有关,但随着时间的推移,它已被认为是博物馆的害虫。尽管它仍然不常见,并且可能仅在一小部分博物馆中观察到,当昆虫被大量发现时,它可能会导致问题。来自奥地利博物馆的错误陷阱和英国的在线数据库的捕获物被用来跟踪对昆虫的不断变化的关注。一只雌性甲虫可以继续繁殖,因为该物种是孤雌生殖的,它的存在可以持续很长时间。尽管博物馆中的小人口通常以成人形式存在,幼虫形式在一个部位被大量感染的地方更常见,也许是因为幼虫和成虫的食物范围必须更广。尽管可以使用杀虫剂控制R.vespulae,也可以通过冷冻或缺氧杀死受感染物质中的幼虫。