The Sousa Archives and Center for American Music - 2011 IPM report
Introduction
Integrated Pest Management (IPM) is a program that attempts to minimize the use of
chemical pest controls by continuously monitoring the environment of an area to determine
likely causes of and solutions to infestations. Monitoring is done by placing insect traps
throughout an area, collecting them on a monthly basis and identifying the amount and types of
insects on each.
The initial goal of this process is to develop a baseline, or expected population, of insects.
The long term goal of the process is to monitor for unusual variations from the baseline, as
these are possible indicators of infestation. In the event of an infestation, several measures can
be taken before the use of chemicals, such as altering the environment and investigating
possible maintenance concerns. The monitoring process also informs these decisions by
helping to locate the source or entry point of the insects.
At the beginning of 2008, 5 Trapper® insect traps were placed in the Sousa Archives and
Center for American Music.
1. Exhibition Room
One trap placed on west wall near door
Room characteristics that may be factors driving the level of insect activity:
Foot traffic: visitors and archives staff access the room throughout the day and
may bring pests into the area on their person
Increased %RH throughout the Summer/Fall seasons (April – October)
Proximity to main Band Building hallway
Screened windows on east facing wall
2. Storage Room
Four traps: one at each corner of the room.
Room characteristics that may be factors driving the level of insect activity:
Foot traffic: the archives staff accesses the room throughout the day to page
needed materials and may bring pests into the area on their person
Increased %RH throughout the Summer/Fall seasons (April – October)
Screened windows on east facing wall
Proximity to main Band Building hallway
Collections within these locations continued throughout 2010.
Reporting
For the purposes of this report, collected data will be broken out into two categories,
Indicators and Damaging pests. Indicators include booklice and springtails. These two insects
indicate the possibility of high relative humidity, aging building materials, moisture, leaks, and
cracks in the structure of a building. It should be noted that in annual reports for 2008 and 2009,
a species of booklouse was being counted as a kind of aphid. It has been corrected for this
report. Damaging pests are those that feed directly on library building materials or collections
and include a variety of beetles, cockroaches, clothes moths, silverfish, and termites. As a final
note, for convenience “insects” and “pests” will be used to mean a broad range of insect-like
pests, including those that are not strictly insects, such as millipedes, mites, pill bugs, etc.
Also, since monitoring of these spaces is done by the Preservation graduate assistant,
the person doing the identification will change on an almost yearly basis. This will have an effect
on the data depending on the person’s acuity and attention to detail, particularly concerning very
small insects.
Exhibition Room (1 trap)
Indicators
The Exhibition Room has only 1 trap, so these numbers may seem small in comparison
to the Storage Room and with other library spaces. The number of Springtails dropped
considerably from 2010, returning to nearly 2009 levels. Booklice figures, on the other hand,
show a nearly 30% increase, from 14 in 2010 to 21 this year.
Environmental tracking shows slightly higher relative humidity (RH) in 2010 than 2009,
which was consistent with an increase in the population of these indicator species. Also, both
years show RH frequently above 50%, which is something of a critical threshold for insect
growth. 2011’s relative humidity ebbed into the mid-40% range in the summer months, which
helps to explain the reversal of the growth trend.
Damaging Pests
There were only 4 potentially damaging pests caught in the Exhibition Room in 2011, 1
odd beetle, 1 American cockroach, and 2 oriental cockroaches. This is a very small number of
pests, so it is most likely that these pests are blundering into the area rather than infesting it.
Recommended Actions
Though indicator species have increased for the 2011 tracking year, this difference of 2
potential pests is a negligible one. If indicator populations were to increase in the 2012 year, we
would recommend starting discussions with the Facilities and Services office and considering
building assessment options.
Storage Room (4 traps)
Indicators
Springtails in the Storage Room showed similar trends to those in the Exhibition Room.
Springtails numbers have risen for the three previous years, from a total of 30 in 2008, to 60 in
2009, to 128 in 2010. 2011, however, saw a fall to 67. Booklice followed a similar trend,
returning to a more acceptable level than 2010’s swell.
Damaging Pests
There were 21 potentially damaging pests found in the Storage Room during 2011. This
is a fairly high number given that there are only 4 traps; however it is consistent with past years.
The bulk of the pests were silverfish, totaling 5 in 2011 (there were 15 and 10 in 2010 and 2009,
respectively). The remainder is comprised of a variety of beetles, with no more than 4 of a given
species seen in the year.
Given their small numbers, the beetles and cockroach were likely acting more as
blunderers, wandering into the space rather than infesting it. The population of silverfish is still
something of a concern, even though 2011 saw a fairly dramatic drop.
Recommended Actions
An examination of the materials in the Storage Room for silverfish damage may be
prudent, and future employees conducting IPM at the Sousa archives should be sensitive to
increases in silverfish activity. This is a large enough number of silverfish that Sousa staff, the
Preservation dept. and Facilities and Services may want to discuss non-chemical or low-risk
chemical options for reducing the population.
Additionally, the consistently high RH is something of a concern. This space shows little
seasonal variation, so outside climate appears to have little effect on the area. Further, the
storage room is fairly small. Installing a small dehumidification unit would likely significantly
lower the RH of the space.