Common Museum Pests (3 of 10)
Beetles
There are many types of beetle that are a pest to museums, although probably not the ones that you are commonly used to seeing at home. They tend to be only a few millimetres in length, and eat a range of materials. As with moths, it is the larvae of beetles that cause damage to the objects, rather than the adults. They eat organic objects to provide themselves with sustenance.
Beetles can be divided up by the objects that they damage.
Wool, fur, feathers, silk and skins
Carpet beetles like these types of object. There are many different types of carpet beetle, such as the Guernsey, the vodka, the two-spot, and the varied.
Dried food and plant material
These are favoured by spider beetles (either the golden spider beetle or the Australian spider beetle) as well as the biscuit or drugstore beetle, and the cigarette beetle. These two will also eat freeze-dried animals.
