Publication on booklice

An article of interest: Research at Kew is investigating ways to
protect library, museum and herbarium collections from damage caused
by booklice.

    'Polyunsaturates' not good for booklice
    <URL:http://www.kew.org/news/polyunsaturates-not-good-for-booklice.htm>

    **** Moderator's comments: The following is almost a complete
    verbatim version of the online article, but for images and some
    additional references

   "Research at Kew is investigating ways to protect library, museum
    and herbarium collections from damage caused by booklice.

    There is an image captioned:

        Distribution of booklice after 12 hours exposure to glass
        fibre discs impregnated with different fatty acids showing
        they are deterred by unsaturated fatty acids. Discs
        impregnated with ... oleic acid*, linolenic acid*, stearic
        acid, linoleic acid* and solvent only (no fatty acid). *
        indicates an unsaturated fatty acid

    Booklice (Liposcelis bostrychophila Badonnel), despite their
    name, are not lice and do not feed entirely on books. But these
    insects, which are about 1 mm in size, do cause damage to
    museum, library and herbarium collections through their feeding
    activity.

    At Kew, entomologist Paul Green is undertaking research to
    better understand the settling behaviour and chemical ecology of
    booklice. He aims to identify compounds, either produced by the
    insects or in their environment, that can either act as
    deterrents to protect artefacts and museum collections or act as
    attractants for use in traps or lures.

    Findings

    The research has shown that a mixture of compounds extracted
    from booklice can repel other members of the same colony. The
    insect-derived extracts contain fatty acids and fatty acid
    methyl esters, among other compounds. Fatty acids with one, two,
    or three double bonds were repellent in comparison to stearic
    acid (no double bonds) and a plain solvent control, indicating
    that the insects are able to detect the differences in these
    chemical structures.

    These results indicate the possibility that volatile fatty
    acids, or other compounds with similar properties, could be used
    in the vicinity of collections to deter booklice.

    Item from Dr Paul Green (Entomologist and Plant Biochemist, Kew)

        Kew Scientist, issue 40
        <URL:http://www.kew.org/kewscientist/>

    Article References

        Green, P. W. C. (2009). The effects of insect extracts and
        some insect-derived compounds on the settling behavior of
        Liposcelis bostrychophila. Journal of Chemical Ecology 33:
        1086-1095.

        Green, P. W. C. (2011). Insect-derived compounds affect the
        behaviour of Liposcelis bostrychophila: Effects of
        combination and structure. Journal of Stored Products
        Research 47: 262-266.


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                  Conservation DistList Instance 25:41
                 Distributed: Wednesday, March 7, 2012
                       Message Id: cdl-25-41-006
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