Insect pests and climate change The Attagenus smirnovi project

The Swedish Museum of Natural History, Aarhus University (Danish Pest Infestation Laboratory), The National Museum of Denmark and the Norwegian Institute for Air Research with support from Nordic Culture Fond have started a research project called "Insect pests and climate change - The Attagenus smirnovi project". The project period is September 2008 - September 2009. We are interested in the distribution of the dermestid beetle Attagenus smirnovi in the Nordic countries. This insect is a recognized museum pest, as the larvae live on organic materials such as feather, hides, fur or wool. The species origins from tropical Africa, but have since the 1960s been observed in several European countries, however for Nordic regions mainly indoors. Our hypothesis is that assuming a temperature increase due to climate change this species will be able to spread outdoors during summer. This will increase the risk of invasion from one building to another, and by this increase the risk for pest attacks on cultural heritage collections. In this project we will investigate the consumption rate of Attagenus smirnovi in relation to temperature and on different materials. This will be combined with pest monitoring data from the collection areas of the National Museum of Denmark, and will make the basis for the formulation of a model for future spreading of this insect pest within the Nordic countries, taking climate change and possible global warming into account. Furthermore, we will map finding localities in Europe in order to costruct a more accurate mapping than now exists.

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