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Integrated Pest Management Plan
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Pest management


What is the Integrated Pest Management Plan?

This is a set of guidelines we follow to deal with the threat of insect damage to the herbarium collections. Some insects (in this case, the herbarium beetle Lasioderma sp.) consume dried plant material and can rapidly destroy herbarium specimens. “Integrated pest management” aims to prevent insect outbreaks and to deal with any problems without the use of pesticides that can be harmful to humans and the environment. Our plan outlined here emphasizes a non-toxic approach as possible, but we do use pesticides (e.g., napthalene, pyrethrins) under special circumstances (see below). This plan is tailored to meet our current needs, and will be revised as necessary. In order to make this approach successful, all herbarium workers must strictly adhere to the policies outlined here.

What does this mean for day-to-day use of the herbarium?

1. Plant specimens are to be stored in herbarium cabinets when not in use; under no circumstances should specimens be left out in the herbarium room overnight. Herbarium beetles are active at night, and it is easy to incur an infestation when plant material is left sitting around the herbarium. Whenever any specimens are found that have been left out overnight, they will be taken to the mounting room for freezing (and unavailable for use for several days). If a cabinet is discovered that has been left open or improperly closed (see below), all of its contents will have to be frozen. Note that freshly mounted specimens will be left out overnight (up to a couple of days) as they dry in the mounting room only. All such specimens are frozen before filing in the collections.
2. Herbarium cabinets must be properly closed (top and bottom). Some of our cases are difficult to close; try lifting up or pushing down on the handle and gently pressing the door closed. Ask the staff for assistance with any problem cabinets.
3. Any apparent recent insect damage should be brought to the attention of the Curator. We must be on the lookout for insect problems in any of the cabinets. When possible signs of insect problems are detected, the corresponding herbarium cabinet(s) will be carefully checked.
4. Dealing with fresh plant material… We do not keep fresh plant material in the herbarium. However, fresh plants are routinely brought in for identification. These plants should be delivered directly to Mark Mayfield; if Mark is unavailable, they should be placed on the metal cart outside the herbarium door (adjacent the plant drier), or in the bottom of the refrigerator in the mounting room.

 

How do we “clean” our herbarium cabinets?

One of our current priorities is the systematic cleaning of cabinets (one at a time) along with inspection of all specimens. Within each cabinet, we will

1) check each specimen for the KSU Herbarium stamp
2) pull any specimens in need of repair
3) pull any specimens that are over- or undersized (for cutting or remounting)
4) remove plant debris from genus covers and replace covers that are very worn, adding genus covers (and redistributing specimens) when covers are overfilled
5) check for misfiled sheets
6) carefully vacuum out the cabinet to remove all plant debris from cracks
7) list action (“cleaning”), initials and date on “activity form” taped inside the case

As you can see from this list, we are caring for damaged or fragile specimens at the same time that we clean out the cabinets as part of the Integrated Pest Management Plan. Keep in mind that many of our specimens are extremely fragile (notice the great percentage of specimens collected during the 1800s!); they must be carefully and properly handled. Finally, this process of going through cabinets may suggest other ideas for protecting the collections — please give any suggestions to the curatorial staff.

 
cabinet with plant specimens inside

How will we deal with new plant specimens entering the herbarium (newly mounted collections, specimen loans from other herbaria)?

All such material must be well frozen (-20C or below), for a minimum of three full days. Three days is a guideline for loosely stacked specimens; it is critical that the actual plant material reach and remain at -20C, and fast cool down times are ideal. Thus, a loan box that is very tightly packed may actually need to be frozen for well over a week. Since a constant cold temperature is important, the freezer should not be opened except when absolutely necessary. We currently have one staff member in charge of loading and unloading the freezer, and this occurs each Tuesday.

 

How will the curatorial staff deal with an insect infestation?

1) The entire contents of the cabinet will be hard frozen. Immediately, the specimens will be boxed and the boxes placed in thick plastic bags with no holes. This will trap most insects within the plastic, and they will die in the freezer (extended time).
2) The cabinet will be vacuumed.
3) “Tri-die” will be sprayed in all the cracks within the cabinet. This spray contains pyrethrins, toxins that break down fairly quickly, as well as silica gel that cuts the insects if they walk on it. Thus, it has both a short- and long-term effect.
4) A container of napthalene (from our large store!) will be placed in the cabinet.
5) Specimens will be replaced, treatment information will be recorded on the “activity sheet”, and the cabinet will be checked regularly.

In addition, the curatorial staff will inspect specimens in neighboring cabinets for signs of infestation.

In which cabinets would an infestation be most likely to occur?

Some of the “problem” families are: Asclepiadaceae, Apocynaceae, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Brassicaceae, Ericaceae, Caprifoliaceae, and Valerianaceae. Some things don’t seem very attractive to herbarium beetles (e.g., most Poaceae, Cyperaceae, Pinaceae, Juglandaceae, Fagaceae, Betulaceae, etc.). The curatorial staff will regularly inspect cabinets housing groups of plants that are known to be particularly susceptible to herbarium beetles.

 

 

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