Insecticidal gel bait for the decimation of Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) populations in libraries, museums, and archives

•Bait controls the pest C. longicaudatum in libraries, archives, and museums.•Cost-efficiency is demonstrated by the low amount of bait and few work hours.•The small amounts of bait used to achieve control pose a low risk to human health.•Bait can easily be incorporated in existing conservation effo...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Journal of cultural heritage Vol. 59; pp. 255 - 263
Main Authors:	Rukke, Bjørn Arne, Querner, Pascal, Hage, Morten, Steinert, Mari, Kaldager, Marianne, Sømhovd, Astrid, Dominiak, Patrycja, Garrido, Mónica, Hansson, Tone, Aak, Anders
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Masson SAS 01-01-2023
Subjects:	Control Insecticidal gel bait IPM Long-tailed silverfish Population decline Preventive conservation Control Preventive conservation Long-tailed silverfish Population decline IPM Insecticidal gel bait
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Summary:	•Bait controls the pest C. longicaudatum in libraries, archives, and museums.•Cost-efficiency is demonstrated by the low amount of bait and few work hours.•The small amounts of bait used to achieve control pose a low risk to human health.•Bait can easily be incorporated in existing conservation efforts and IPM approaches. The problem of bristletail Ctenolepisma longicaudatum (Zygentoma: Lepismatidae) in libraries, archives, and museums is increasing. It can cause damage to valuable and irreplaceable objects. We describe the effect of the use of insecticidal gel bait (active ingredient: indoxacarb) against C. longicaudatum populations in three libraries, seven archives, and seven museums in Norway and Austria. Pest activity was monitored with sticky traps to evaluate the effect of bait application. Significant declines in pest populations were observed at all locations when small bait droplets were applied either systematically throughout the buildings or strategically close to suspected aggregations. In addition, bait was successfully used to prevent infestation in a new museum building. The cost of treatment, measured by the amount of bait and work hours spent, was low, and bait application was conducted by either the professional pest control technicians or the local integrated pest management (IPM) manager. The use of insecticidal gel bait and its secondary effects is a cost-efficient alternative for population decimation; moreover, the method has a low probability of negative health issues for employees at the treated localities or damage to the objects. The application of bait is discussed in relation to its alignment with other IPM methods in libraries, archives, and museums.
ISSN:	1296-2074 1778-3674
DOI:	10.1016/j.culher.2022.12.010