WTF are these little bug things in my books / bookcases?

[Madrone]

I've seen them before in boxes of books ... but I'm giving the bookshelves a good cleaning today, and at the base of some of the books I see this pile of dusty stuff ... and the shed "shells" of some fucking bug things. I found one actual living bug too ... no visible legs - remind me of the things that get into dry goods in pantries.

WTF are these? How / why do are they so interested in my books? And most importantly, HOW do I get rid of them and make sure they never come back?

Jesus - MOST of my books are in storage right now ... I shudder to think what I may find someday when I get the boxes out and open them up. :scared:

[carly denise pt deux]

1. um.....bookworms?

Carly

[GOPisEvil]

2. Termites?

;)

I believe those bugs are the reason that people store books in mylar covers. But I could be wrong. I frequently am, as you know. :D

Edit - I found this while googling. http://www.santacruzpl.org/readyref/files/a-b/bookbugs.shtml

[Jamastiene]

3. Could they be silverfish?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

[Gormy Cuss]

4. Not these?

Silverfish love books. They are very pale silver color in addition to the dusky brown of this one:



on edit: since Jamastiene had the same idea, I'll add that there are silverfish killing packs sold.

[Whoa_Nelly]

5. Silverfish? Weevils? or....PLASTER BAGWORMS????

Silverfish
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silverfish

Weevils
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Weevil

:scared: Plaster Bagworms :scared:
Inquiry to info:
http://en.allexperts.com/q/Entomology-Study-Bugs-665/Identify-bug-larvae-worm.htm


More info:
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/IG090

[Madrone]

7. None of the above ...

I was just looking at photos of book lice on google.

They are little, kind of striped - lighter bodies with dark stripes. Larvae, I would guess. The little "shells" have the same stripes ...

They really remind me of things I've found in dried goods in pantries before ...

[Blue Diadem]

9. check this link for pic of pantry moth larvae

http://www.whatsthatbug.com/pantry.html

several other little striped icky things there.



book lice are really really tiny, almost speck like and if I recall correctly they're more flesh color or very light. They move pretty fast too.

[Blue Diadem]

6. booklice? n/t

[GOPisEvil]

8. I think they're some sort of beetle.

Drugstore or carpet beetles, maybe?

[RainDog]

10. bookworms

are various types of beetles. there are other insects that like books too, because of the cellulose.

if you have little tunnels through your books, those are from bookworms. (you're in good company...the Book of Kells has old wormholes from who knows how long ago.)

if the bookworms are in all your books, the most common practice for people at home is to fumigate.

if you don't want to do that, you can take all your books off the shelves, use the small head attachment from your vacuum and vacuum all your shelves, then spray insecticide on the shelves, let it dry, vacuum again. wait a week and do that again to catch any strays.

vacuum the top, bottom, spine and fore edge of all your books.. but be very careful not to hurt the pages. bookworms lay eggs on the edges of books, so it's important to get to the books as well as the shelves. you should do this once and then again in a week to catch any larvae that might still be around.

if you have a really big problem and really fine, expensive, hard-to-replace books, you might want to consult a conservator in your area. Institutions have containers to fumigate books, and freezers to freeze mold on books pages... and all sorts of other equipment. most wouldn't let you bring your books in to them...but a conservator in your area might have equipment, or the conservator might tell you to fumigate...

make sure you don't have your books pushed to the backs of the shelves because you want to let air circulate around the books. make sure it's not too damp and dusty around your books cause that attracts bugs.

[Muttocracy]

11. see if it's in any of these publications:

http://www.nysipm.cornell.edu/publications/library_ipm/files/library_IPM.pdf

http://www.hgic.umd.edu/_media/documents/hg67.pdf

http://www.ipm.ucdavis.edu/PMG/PESTNOTES/pn7452.html

http://pmo.umext.maine.edu/factsht/Flourbtl.htm

http://www.uvm.edu/extension/publications/el/el40.htm


Let me know if you need more info - I have access to a bunch of integrated pest mgmt (IPM) info via work.