Up in the NE Great Lakes area, outdoor humidity is about 65% - 75% for six months, then 30% the other six months. Even with multiple dehumidifiers running sometimes in summer it's a struggle to keep the bug room under 50%. This is when the problems start.

One thing I've found is that once a drawer has an infestation, even minor, it's more inclined to in the future. And, if a drawer gets badly infested, it's more likely to get badly infested again. Maybe they find it easier to feed on already-damaged specimens. Point is, I know which drawers are likely to have a problem. I also flag them with those little stick-on arrows so I can find them easily for inspection.

Another observation- off topic somewhat- is drawers that get infested. When I took over maintenance of the Iveson collection (14,000 specimens, 150 drawers) there were substantial infestations in some drawers, while the drawers adjacent would be fine. Oddly, there seemed to be zero correlation with the seal on the drawer- some badly infested seemed to be extremely well made and well sealed, while some with never any infestation were loose fitted and badly constructed drawers. I never could figure it out.

Anyway, when the garage is sub-zero (25F or less) I rotate four drawers at a time through the garage for three days. Four because that's the number I can carry safely. Only last year did I run out of cold-enough days to do the entire collection. If we had room for a chest freezer I'd get one, but wife says I have too much stuff already, so no chest freezer. A Porsche is also out of the question.

[quote=Chuck post_id=8523 time=1701093488 user_id=100

It's my suggestion to find a way to freeze drawers, always keep humidity under 50%, and avoid fumigants. This, of course, is not always possible, but for those who do have the space (yes, you do John) a freezer (or second freezer) is the way to go.
[/quote]

Summertime humidity is kept at around 30-35% with a dehumidifier and in winter the heating takes it even lower, so that's not a problem. But noticing which drawers need a freeze treatment is a bit of a problem -- With close to 600 drawers, I always have some I haven't opened or looked at in a year or three... Guess I could institute a 6-monthly program of looking at everything, though. A 2nd freezer might be a good idea, too. Mine is the smallest chest freezer I could buy, ca. 5 cu. ft.

Tks,
jh

I've pretty much gotten away from fumigants. If I find any beetles during summer I toss a PDB in the drawer and that seems to take care of them.

I'm "fortunate" enough that during winter I can rotate most of the collection through the sub-freezing garage. Purportedly, the drawers have to go through two freezes to catch adults then eggs, but in my experience one rotation through a freeze does the job.

It's my suggestion to find a way to freeze drawers, always keep humidity under 50%, and avoid fumigants. This, of course, is not always possible, but for those who do have the space (yes, you do John) a freezer (or second freezer) is the way to go.

Hopefully someone here can help find these works. Adding all these details will definitely help.

Adam.

Very interesting ! Congrats Thierry !

Thank you very much !

Thierry Bouyer has published a systematic revision of Charaxini. It can be found here.

The abstract:

The systematics of Charaxini is revised. The three historical genera are confirmed: Charaxes (Ochsenheimer, 1816);
Polyura (Billberg, 1820) and Euxanthe (Hübner, 1819). The genera Eriboea (Hübner, 1819) status rev.; Zingha
(Hemming, 1939) status rev.; Viridixes (Bouyer & Vingerhoedt, 2008) status rev. and Euxanthe subgenus
Hypomelaena (Aurivillius, 1898) status. rev. are reinstated. Three new genera are described: Laodice genus nov. with
the type species Papilio lycurgus (Fabricius, 1793); Setechin genus nov. with the type species Charaxes nichetes
(Grose-Smith, 1883) and Ydeali genus nov. with the type species Charaxes lydiae (Holland, 1917). A key to the nine
genera is provided.

Chris Grinter wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 9:23 pm

jhyatt wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 2:54 pm

Chris Grinter wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 6:07 am A chest freezer can fit drawers vertically, years ago I had one in a lab that could easily fit 6 at once. Pretty cheap to purchase and run.

Got one, but it's too full of boxes of papered leps to hold any drawers!

jh

Haha yes just need the discipline to use the freezer for nothing other than pest management.

Let's see now: I take the boxes of papered stuff out of the freezer, take the fumigant out of drawers, put it into the boxes, put the boxes on a shelf, and put the drawers in the freezer, and I'm good to go!

jhyatt wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 2:54 pm

Chris Grinter wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 6:07 am A chest freezer can fit drawers vertically, years ago I had one in a lab that could easily fit 6 at once. Pretty cheap to purchase and run.

Got one, but it's too full of boxes of papered leps to hold any drawers!

jh

Haha yes just need the discipline to use the freezer for nothing other than pest management.

Thanks, is a book series. I put the references below:

Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. L1. Adephaga
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 1991
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl:
ISBN-NR.: 3827406986
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag


Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. Bd L2. Myxophaga, Polyphaga 1
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 1994
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl:
ISBN-NR.: 3827406994
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag


Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. Bd L3. Polyphaga 2
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 1996
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl: 335 S.
ISBN-NR.: 3827407036
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag


Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. Bd L4. Polyphaga 3
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 1997
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl:
ISBN-NR.:
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag


Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. Bd L5. Polyphaga 4
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 2001
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl: 300 S.
ISBN-NR.: 3827409292
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag


Kafer Mitteleuropas. Larven. Bd.6. Polyphaga
Autor: Klausnitzer, Bernhard
Erscheinungsjahr: 2001
Sprache: Deutsch
Seitenzahl: 300 S.
ISBN-NR.: 3827409292
Verlag: Spektrum Akademischer Verlag

Chris Grinter wrote: ↑Sun Nov 26, 2023 6:07 am A chest freezer can fit drawers vertically, years ago I had one in a lab that could easily fit 6 at once. Pretty cheap to purchase and run.

Got one, but it's too full of boxes of papered leps to hold any drawers!

jh

Do you know the author's name and when it was published? I am sure that would help.

Adam.

Good morning,
I'm looking for a while for the pages dedicated to the description and iconography of the larvae of species belonging to the genus Stephanopachys, (Bostrichidae). Can you help me? In Italy I have a lot of difficulty finding this source, where I believe they are well described.
A thousand thanks
Luca

A chest freezer can fit drawers vertically, years ago I had one in a lab that could easily fit 6 at once. Pretty cheap to purchase and run.

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Be careful, I had to remove another of these accounts in the Classifieds (Safman Rosicky).

I see they have "improved" their scam listing now some very rare species at high price (but affordable for the rarity) : https://reptileheaven.com/product/agria ... ournierae/ The real value of this pair would be at least $1,000.

I guess they steal pictures on the web of sold rarities and list them as if they have it. A simple google search about the rarity can lead you to their website.

Wonderful species! Appreciate the post.

Jshuey wrote: ↑Tue Nov 21, 2023 3:21 pm The other thing to ponder, this stuff is not good for you. It can cause neurological damage. My bug room is pretty small, so I use it as sparingly as possible.

John

Yep, it's a cholinesterase inhibitor. My bug room is a roughly 60' X 40' open basement, fairly well ventilated, and I don't spend huge amounts of time there. Still, it's a concern. Paradichlorobenzene also can produce neurological effects. PDCB is more volatile than dichlorvos and needs replacement much more often, so I've switched to dichlorvos. But I think I will follow Shuey in using smaller pieces than I have been.

It's a dilemma; I can see why big museums have gone over to watching and freezing when infestations occur. But without a really big freezer, that's impractical at home.

jh

Agree with Jshuey, as I keep my roughly 80 drawers in my basement. I would be concerned that 80 chunks of no pest strip might be a health concern for family that spends lots of time in the basement, obviously not in the room with the bugs, but what's to keep it confined to that particular room. I used to use moth crystals, but my wife put a stop to that many years ago as any time she went near the "moth room" as we call it, she could smell it, and its not safe either. So now for the past few years I am using cedar oil, not in the drawers, but in cabinets and about the room. I soak cedar disks in cedar oil, and place them around the drawers in the room. The cedar smell is rather pleasant, and diminishes after a day or two after treatment. I repeat this about every 2 or 3 months. So far no pests, but I know cedar oil will not kill the pests, only deter them, so I check my most valuable specimens routinely, just a flashlight to look under the bodies for any dust.