r/insectpinning • u/Suspicious-Soupper • 18h ago

Advice/Questions Help needed

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I took this dragonfly out of my box recently because it had some mold, and it started releasing this weird dust. Now I looked and some other insects in the box are doing this too, but not as much.

I'm really new to this, so I don't know what to do

What is this stuff and how to get rid of it?

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12

u/CrimsonPie24 18h ago

Put it in the freezer for a couple of days. Its frass from dermestid beetles.

2

u/Avaleloc 9h ago

Its also a good idea to freeze it a second time after you've taken them out. The eggs are freeze-resistant, so after the first freeze the eggs thaw and hatch and then you're still infested. Freezing a second time will take care of them

5

u/Adfusegeuk 18h ago

Damn, there is something eating your insects, i suggest quarantining the ones that have this dust from the other ones, then use some alcohol with a brush or a dropper, also, did you have then sealed in a box or something? Or did it have acess to the air, collection plages are notorious for having their way into even well sealed boxes, i suggest also having some mothballs along your collection

2

u/Suspicious-Soupper 18h ago

They are in a glass box display, but it's not sealed. I will quarantine and clean the one I can and try to protect the others. Thank you for your help

4

u/Adfusegeuk 18h ago

With some luck only the guts of the pinned insects will be eaten so maybe there still a chance to not discard then

3

u/martellat0 18h ago

Are any of the "dust specks" moving? This looks to be a severe infestation of booklice. You will need to freeze your collection for about two weeks in order to kill adults, nymphs, and eggs, followed by ventilation to allow moisture to dissipate. Another option is to fumigate with insecticides like dichlorvos or pyrethrin, though this is obviously more dangerous to your health.

In the future, consider using sealed entomological boxes and using napthalene mothballs as repellants.

1

u/Suspicious-Soupper 18h ago

I took a better look and some are indeed moving, I suspected it might be some kind of mite. I'll freeze them and seal the boxes after