Pests
Wanted Dead or Alive

You can identify a pest problem in several ways:

• Encountering live insects in collection area.
• Insect remains in collection area.
• By the type of damage they cause to library materials.
• Frass is left by the insect after it digests the book cover, text block, etc. Each insect has a distinctive frass. The color of the frass usually is similar to the material the insect has been consuming. Frass found on the shelf under the spine is a pretty good indication that you have an active infestation.
• Finding spiders and geckos in collection area. They are probably feeding on the insects.

Book Beetle has many aliases. Commonly known as the bookworm, it is also called the Mexican Book Beetle, the Herbarium Beetle or the Cigarette Beetle. It is the most prevalent pest in the library. They lay their eggs in the books. When the eggs hatch, the larvae (worm like juvenile) do the most damage as they eat their way to the spine. As the larvae matures, it turns into a tiny, ladybug like beetle, which is the about the size of a pinhead, and dark brown or crimson in color. They eat their way through the cover of the book and make exit holes the size of large pinholes in the spine. Once they are out of the book they fly to other volumes, lay eggs, and the cycle repeats itself.

Damage: Perfectly round exit holes the size of large pinholes in the spine; damage often found at front or back of text block close to the spine. They can turn the text block into confetti.

Frass: Fine granular like frass.

Cockroaches

Substantial damage to library materials can be attributed to various species of cockroaches. They have large, strong, chewing mouthparts, prefer starchy materials and can easily destroy paper and bookbindings.

Damage: Chewing damage is generally recognized by the ragged appearance to the areas that have been fed upon. Cockroach droppings permanently stain paper and bookbindings.

Silverfish

Silverfish cause damage to paper and books by feeding on the surface. They do not have strong chewing mouthparts so they gum the surface until they break through. They like book covers, and the starch in binding paste.

Damage: They leave threadbare trails, or spots on the surface of the binding. Damaged paper has a lace-like, irregular appearance.

Frass: Fine, black, pellet-like frass that resembles a miniature mouse droppings.

Termites

Termites can also cause significant damage to books. They are generally less common in libraries. Termites move from buildings or wood shelves into books. They will devour the text block and binding since the paper/board contain cellulose.

Damage: They can turn the text block into confetti, and destroy bookbindings.

Frass: Granular, sand-like.