Identification of pests

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We would like to request your office to provide us with information
regarding a sourcebook of insect identification in the tropics
(specifically Southeast Asia, or insects native to the Philippines).

[We also need help with] insect identification based on this description:

The Lopez Museum (a fine arts museum and library housing 19th
century colonial Filipino paintings and early 20th century art,
Filipiniana books, journals, manuscripts, and rare books in Manila,
Philippines) has many small insects moving around on its wooden
gallery display walls and inside wooden storage cabinets. Under
magnification, they appear to be very plump little things (almost
resembling a fly with a beer belly), creamy white in color except
for the sides which are mottled brown. Their transparent wings are
covered in short hair but their bodies are hairless. Although the
abdomen is huge, the head/thorax is short. There are a pair of long
antennae, three pair legs, a pair of mandibles and a chewing mouth.
They dislike light and appear to favor wood.

When we dismounted one of the display units, many more of these
insects were found inside. Debris from the floor picked up using
masking tape included two dead beetles. These have a long abdomen
with a short thorax/head. Antennae were not visible but these were
dead bodies and they could have been lost. They are copper brown in
color and have hair running along their bodies. Plaster dust has
given the bodies distinct stripes where it has settled in the hair.
The mouth is not visible.

A trail of fine dust fell onto the floor when the display wall was
taken apart. Under the microscope, it appears uniform in texture and
very soft and fluffy. One gossamer wing is visible, as well as many
little brown spots (bug poop?).

We would appreciate any information you could provide. Kindly e-mail
response to marta<-a t->skyinet< . >net. Thank you,

M. E. Matias
Director, Lopez Museum

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                  Conservation DistList Instance 11:4
                  Distributed: Thursday, June 26, 1997
                        Message Id: cdl-11-4-011
                                  ***