Bookworm (insect)

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Pages riddled with bookworm damage on Errata Bookworm damage on Errata page.jpg
Pages riddled with bookworm damage on Errata
Traces of a bookworm in a book Bookworm traces.JPG
Traces of a bookworm in a book
A bookworm / beetle grub found inside a paperback book, showing some of the damage it has wrought Bookworm Grub and the damage done.jpg
A bookworm / beetle grub found inside a paperback book, showing some of the damage it has wrought

Bookworm is a general name for any insect that is said to bore through books. [1] [2]

Contents

The damage to books that is commonly attributed to "bookworms" is often caused by the larvae of various types of insects, including beetles, moths, and cockroaches, which may bore or chew through books seeking food. The damage is not caused by any species of worm. Some such larvae exhibit a superficial resemblance to worms and are the likely inspiration for the term, though they are not true worms. In other cases, termites, carpenter ants, and woodboring beetles will first infest wooden bookshelves and later feed on books placed upon the shelves, attracted by the wood-pulp paper used in most commercial book production.

True book-borers are uncommon. The primary food sources for many "bookworms" are the leather or cloth bindings of a book, the glue used in the binding process, or molds and fungi that grow on or inside books. When the pages themselves are attacked, a gradual encroachment across the surface of one page or a small number of pages is typical, rather than the boring of holes through the entire book. [3]

The term has come to have a second, idiomatic meaning of a bibliophile, who reads a great deal or to perceived excess: someone who devours books metaphorically.

Booklice

A booklouse Book louse 03.JPG
A booklouse

The booklouse, also known as a paperlouse, is a soft-bodied, wingless insect in the order Psocoptera (usually Trogium pulsatorium ), typically 1 mm or less in length. Booklice feed on microscopic molds and other organic matter found in or on aging items that have been stored in places that lack the climate control necessary to inhibit organic growth. Areas of archives, libraries, and museums that are cool, damp, dark, and generally undisturbed are common sites for such growth, generating a food source which subsequently attracts booklice. Booklice will also attack bindings, glue, and paper.

Despite their name, booklice are not considered to be true lice, as they do not feed on a living host.

By the 20th century, bookbinding materials had developed a high resistance against damage by various types of book-boring insects. [4] Many museums and archives in possession of materials vulnerable to booklouse damage employ pest control methods to manage existing infestations and make use of climate control to prevent the growth of potential booklouse food sources. [5]

Other book-eating insects

Beetles

Of the quarter million species of beetles, some adults damage books by eating paper and binding materials themselves. However, their larvae do the most damage. Typically eggs are laid on the book's edges and spine. Upon hatching, they bore into, and sometimes even through, the book. [3]

Drugstore beetle on a human finger Drugstore beetle 02.jpg
Drugstore beetle on a human finger

Woodboring beetles

Auger beetles

Long horned beetles

Bark beetles

True weevils

Larval stage of the museum beetle Anthrenus museorum CSIRO ScienceImage 2899 Larvae stage of a museum beetle Anthrenus museorum.jpg
Larval stage of the museum beetle Anthrenus museorum

Skin beetles

These beetles have been known to feed on leather bindings.

Powderpost beetles

Darkling beetles

Termites

Termites are the most devastating type of book-eating pest. They will eat almost every part of a book including paper, cloth, and cardboard, not to mention the damage that can be done to shelves. Termites can make entire collections unusable before the infestation is even noticed. [3]

Hercules Ant (Camponotus herculeanus) Hercules Ant (Camponotus herculeanus).jpg
Hercules Ant (Camponotus herculeanus)

Ants

Some species of ants can damage books in a way that is similar to termites. [11]

Moths

Clothes moths will, in addition to attacking clothes and fabrics, also feed on bookbindings, decaying organic material (which includes paper), and mold.

Fungus moths

Pyralid moths

Concealer moths

Cockroaches

Book-damaging cockroach species chew away at the starch in cloth bindings and paper. Their droppings can also harm books. [3]

Wood cockroaches

Household cockroaches

Zygentoma

These insects consume portions of books that contain polysaccharides. Paper that is slightly ragged at the edges is usually the work of silverfish. [3] [12]

Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina) LepismaSaccharina.jpg
Silverfish (Lepisma saccharina)

Lepismatidae

Thermobia domestica, firebrat Thermobia domesticae - Firebrat.jpg
Thermobia domestica, firebrat

Management

Human awareness of bookworms dates back to the Middle Ages, when infested books were identified and burned. [16]

Pesticides can be used to protect books from these insects, but they are often made with harsh chemicals that make them an unattractive option. Museums and universities that want to keep their archives bookworm free without using pesticides often turn towards temperature control. Books can be stored at low temperatures that keep eggs from hatching, or placed in a deep-freezer to kill larvae and adults. The idea was taken from commercial food storage practices, as they are often dealing with the same pests. [15] [17] Pseudoscorpions such as Chelifer cancroides may live in books and feed on book-eating insects, controlling their numbers. [18]

In human culture

Bookworms were one of the threats to book preservation identified by 19th Century collector and printer William Blades in his work The Enemies of Books . [16] How to protect papyrus, paper (and later parchment) collections from bugs is a topic that already Aristotle was interested in and that kept librarians busy through the centuries. [19]

The term bookworm is also used idiomatically to describe an avid or voracious reader, [20] or a bibliophile. In its earliest iterations, it had a negative connotation, referring to someone who would rather read than participate in the world around them. Over the years its meaning has drifted in a more positive direction. [21]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pest (organism)</span> Organism harmful to humans/our concerns

A pest is any organism harmful to humans or human concerns. The term is particularly used for creatures that damage crops, livestock, and forestry or cause a nuisance to people, especially in their homes. Humans have modified the environment for their own purposes and are intolerant of other creatures occupying the same space when their activities impact adversely on human objectives. Thus, an elephant is unobjectionable in its natural habitat but a pest when it tramples crops.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodworm</span> Wood-eating beetle larva

A woodworm is the wood-eating larva of many species of beetle. It is also a generic description given to the infestation of a wooden item by these larvae.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pest control</span> Control of harmful species

Pest control is the regulation or management of a species defined as a pest; such as any animal, plant or fungus that impacts adversely on human activities or environment. The human response depends on the importance of the damage done and will range from tolerance, through deterrence and management, to attempts to completely eradicate the pest. Pest control measures may be performed as part of an integrated pest management strategy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dermestidae</span> Family of beetles

Dermestidae are a family of Coleoptera that are commonly referred to as skin beetles. Other common names include larder beetle, hide or leather beetles, carpet beetles, and khapra beetles. There are over 1,800 species described.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psocoptera</span> Order of insects

Psocoptera are a paraphyletic group of insects that are commonly known as booklice, barklice or barkflies. The name Psocoptera has been replaced with Psocodea in recent literature, with the inclusion of the former order Phthiraptera into Psocodea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clothes moth</span> Index of animals with the same common name

Clothes moth or clothing moth is the common name for several species of moth considered to be pests, whose larvae eat animal fibres (hairs), including clothing and other fabrics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Woodboring beetle</span> Common name for a beetle that eats wood

The term woodboring beetle encompasses many species and families of beetles whose larval or adult forms eat and destroy wood. In the woodworking industry, larval stages of some are sometimes referred to as woodworms. The three most species-rich families of woodboring beetles are longhorn beetles, bark beetles and weevils, and metallic flat-headed borers. Woodboring is thought to be the ancestral ecology of beetles, and bores made by beetles in fossil wood extend back to the earliest fossil record of beetles in the Early Permian (Asselian), around 295-300 million years ago.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xylophagy</span> Digestion of wood

Xylophagy is a term used in ecology to describe the habits of an herbivorous animal whose diet consists primarily of wood. The word derives from Greek ξυλοφάγος (xulophagos) "eating wood", from ξύλον "wood" and φαγεῖν "to eat", an ancient Greek name for a kind of a worm-eating bird. Animals feeding only on dead wood are called sapro-xylophagous or saproxylic.

<i>Tineola bisselliella</i> Species of moth

Tineola bisselliella, known as the common clothes moth, webbing clothes moth, or simply clothing moth, is a species of fungus moth. It is the type species of its genus Tineola and was first described by the Swedish entomologist Arvid David Hummel in 1823. It and a number of closely-related species are together known as the clothes moths due to their function as pests in human households. The specific name is commonly misspelled biselliella – for example by G. A. W. Herrich-Schäffer, when he established Tineola in 1853.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wharf borer</span> Species of beetle

The wharf borer, Nacerdes melanura, belongs to the insect order Coleoptera, the beetles. They belong to the family Oedemeridae, known as false blister beetles. Wharf borers are present in all the states of the USA except for Florida. It takes about a year to develop from an egg to an adult. The name 'wharf borer' comes from the larval stage of this insect, which often lingers on pilings and timbers of wharves, especially along coastal areas. The adult beetles are identifiable via a black band across the end of both elytra. In addition, wharf borers are distinct from other members of the family Oedemeridae due to the presence of a single spur on the tibia of the forelegs and the distance between both eyes. The female beetle oviposits eggs on rotten wood, on which the larvae hatch, burrow, then feed. Adults do not eat and depend on stored energy reserves accumulated as a larva. They are considered a pest because they damage wood used in building infrastructures.

Home-stored product entomology is the study of insects that infest foodstuffs stored in the home. It deals with the prevention, detection and eradication of pests.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Silverfish</span> Small land insect in the order Zygentoma

The silverfish is a species of small, primitive, wingless insect in the order Zygentoma. Its common name derives from the insect's silvery light grey colour, combined with the fish-like appearance of its movements. The scientific name indicates that the silverfish's diet consists of carbohydrates such as sugar or starches. While the common name silverfish is used throughout the global literature to refer to various species of Zygentoma, the Entomological Society of America restricts use of the term solely for Lepisma saccharinum.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Psocodea</span> Order of insects

Psocodea is a taxonomic group of insects comprising the bark lice, book lice and parasitic lice. It was formerly considered a superorder, but is now generally considered by entomologists as an order. Despite the greatly differing appearance of parasitic lice (Phthiraptera), they are believed to have evolved from within the former order Psocoptera, which contained the bark lice and book lice, now found to be paraphyletic. They are often regarded as the most primitive of the hemipteroids. Psocodea contains around 11,000 species, divided among four suborders and more than 70 families. They range in size from 1–10 millimetres (0.04–0.4 in) in length.

<i>Dinoderus minutus</i> Species of beetle

Dinoderus minutus, the Bamboo borer, is a species of wood-boring beetle. In tropical regions, it is one of the main pests of bamboo, attracted by the internal starch. It is native to Asia but has spread widely with the trade of infested bamboo wood and bamboo products.

<i>Doleromyrma darwiniana</i> Species of ant

Doleromyrma darwiniana is a species of ant in the genus Doleromyrma. Described by Forel in 1907, the species is endemic to Australia and introduced to New Zealand, and it nests in soil or under stones and logs. The organism grows to a length between 2.0 and 3.0 millimeters. This species of ant maintains small colony sizes and it "prefers protein food." The species is also known by some sources as the "brown house ant" and "Darwin's ant". The species is considered a "minor urban pest" in New South Wales.

Integrated pest management in museums, libraries, archives and private collections is the practice of monitoring and managing pest and environmental information with pest control methods to prevent pest damage to collections and cultural property. Preserving cultural property is the ultimate goal for these institutions. The pests come in many different forms: insects, mites, rodents, bats, birds, and fungi and the two most common types are insects and fungi. It is widely recommended that every museum have some form of pest control in place and monitoring system to protect their collection and that museums review their storage and museum facilities to determine how to best control and prevent pest infestations while utilizing an Integrated Pest Management plan.

<i>Liposcelis</i> Genus of booklice

Liposcelis is a genus of insects in the order Psocoptera, the booklice and barklice. There are about 126 species. Many species are associated with human habitation and several are well known as pests of stored products. The genus is distributed nearly worldwide.

A storage pest is an insect or other animal that damages or destroys stored food or other stored valuable organic matter. Insects are a large proportion of storage pests with each type of crop having specific insects that gravitate towards them such as the genus Tribolium that consists of insects such as Tribolium castaneum or Tribolium confusum which damage flour crops primarily.

References

Citations

  1. "Bookworm insect". Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  2. Wiener, Ann Elizabeth (2018). "What's That Smell You're Reading?". Distillations. 4 (1): 36–39. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Pest Control | Library Preservation and Conservation Tutorial". Cornell University Library . Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  4. Murray, Stuart (2009). The Library: An Illustrated History. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 198.
  5. "Bugs That Eat Books!". Colonial Pest Control Inc. 2013-03-21. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  6. "Woodworm Anobium Punctatum". buildingconservation.com. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  7. "Deathwatch beetle". Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  8. 1 2 "Drugstore beetle". University of Florida . Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  9. "Black Carpet Beetle". Penn State . Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  10. "Larder beetle". Canadian Grain Commission. 2013-08-30. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  11. Harbison, Brad (4 August 2015). "A Termite-Damaged Book...Or Is It?". Pest Control Technology. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  12. 1 2 "Identifying and controlling clothes moths, carpet beetles and silverfish". Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  13. 1 2 Parker, Thomas A (1988). Study on integrated pest management for libraries and archives, General Information Programme and UNISIST, UNESCO. PGI.88/WS/20. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000082141.locale=en
  14. "Brown house moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Stainton)". Canadian Grain Commission. 2013-08-30. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
  15. 1 2 Strang, Thomas J. K. "A Review of Published Temperatures for the Control of Pest Insects in Museums" (PDF). p. 3.[ permanent dead link ]
  16. 1 2 Sajic, Andrijana. "A Book's Best Frenemy". Met Museum, 24 February 2016. Retrieved 7 May 2024.
  17. The Yale Non-toxic Method of Eradicating Book-eating Insects by Deep-freezing Kenneth Nesheim
  18. Crew, Bec (August 25, 2014). "How Book Scorpions Tend to Your Dusty Tomes". Scientific American. Retrieved 20 June 2019.
  19. Nicole C. Karafyllis, Jörg Overmann, Ulrich Johannes Schneider, Christoph Mackert (eds.): The contaminated library: microbes in book culture. Leipzig 2023, open access
  20. "Bookworm". Oxford English Dictionary . Lexico. Archived from the original on June 19, 2019. Retrieved June 19, 2019.
  21. "Is 'bookworm' positive or negative?". Merriam Webster . Retrieved June 18, 2019.

Further reading