Effect of Indoor Climate and Habitat Change on Museum Insects during COVID-19 Closures

Abstract

COVID-19 spread globally and, as there was little immunity, quarantine, isolation, and social distancing became widely practiced. As people were restricted to their homes in many countries, public venues, such as museums, galleries, and historic houses, were typically closed. This allowed insect abundance, under changed conditions, to be explored using traps from the Technical Museum, Schönbrunn Palace, Hofburg Museum, and Weltmuseum in Vienna. The trap contents reveal an increase in Lepisma saccharinum, the common silverfish, as well as in the Zygentoma Ctenolepisma longicaudatum and C. calvum at some museums. Other insects such as Tineola bisselliella, Anthrenus verbasci, and Attagenus smirnovi, though found in reasonable numbers, did not increase. Museum interiors were likely a little cooler and drier during lockdown, but this difference is too small to explain the increased silverfish activity. The larger rooms were certainly quieter, which allowed insects freedom to range more widely. Nevertheless, museums did not observe increased damage to collections from the larger numbers. The infestations during the closures suggest a need for low level cleaning and regular inspections, with an initial focus examining those areas frequented by insects in the past.

Climate Change and Its Effects on Indoor Pests (Insect and Fungi) in Museums

“…We found very few papers that specifically analyse the relationship between climate change and museum pests (but see [49,50,53,55,60] for insects). Models of future climate scenarios are rare for most regions, even though we can already see changes in the climate and insect pest and fungal activity.…”

“…Impacts of a changing climate on cultural heritage are expected [47], but few studies examine pests, such as insects. According to a summary in Brimblecombe and Lankester [48], and Brimblecombe et al [49][50][51][52][53], changes of a few degrees in temperature have the potential to cause increased activity and reproductive cycles. Changes of a few degrees of temperature have the potential to (i) increase activity for periods with day temperatures above 15 • C [48]; (ii) increase the number of eggs (0 at <10 • C; few at 15 • C; 80 at 25 • C) [54,55]; (iii) increase the number of reproductive cycles per year [9,50], e.g., up to two cycles for Stegobium paniceum Linnaeus, 1758 (Ptinidae, Coleoptera-common names drugstore beetle, also known as the bread beetle or biscuit beetle) as calculated by Brimblecombe and Lankester [48] based on laboratory work by Lefkovitch [54]; and (iv) increase the flying period with the potential to enhance dispersal [54,55].…”

“…The collection of insect monitoring and development data, together with indoor climate, is needed to obtain a better insight into the species affected most. Pests have not been the focus of study so far in the abovementioned programmes on climate change and cultural heritage [21-26], although recent analyses have examined the effect of museum closures on indoor climate during the first COVID-19 lockdown [52,53] in an Austrian museum on Lepisma saccharinum Linnaeus, 1758 (Lepismatidae, Zygentoma).…”

Identification and Spread of the Ghost Silverfish (Ctenolepisma calvum) among Museums and Homes in Europe

“…Whether it is still widespread in Cuba today rema unknown, as with its occurrence and distribution in homes in Sri Lanka. In recent years, C. calvum has been recorded in different countries of Central Euro [3,6,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) textbook by David Pinniger [6] d not include it as a pest species (although C. calvum was added in the German translat [33]).…”

“…The study provides an opportunity to assess likely changes in the fut and give a sense of issues that might require more consideration in pest management p tocols. In recent years, C. calvum has been recorded in different countries of Central Europe [3,6,[27][28][29][30][31][32]. The Integrated Pest Management (IPM) textbook by David Pinniger [6] does not include it as a pest species (although C. calvum was added in the German translation [33]).…”