Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „AL. I. CUZA” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LII, 2006

OLD BOOKS DAMAGING PTINIDS (INSECTA, COLEOPTERA, PTINIDAE) IN ROMANIA

GEORGIANA GĂMĂLIE

“Alexandru Ioan Cuza” University, Faculty of Biology, Carol I Bd., 20 A, 700505, Iaşi, Romania geoniamg@yahoo.com

Abstract. The paper presents aspects regarding the attack and the damage caused by coleopterans to the old books kept in the Agapia Monastery (Neamţ County) and Cetăţuia Monastery (Iaşi County), to the old books deposit of the “St. Nicholas” Church Museum in Braşov, as well as to some herbaria of the Biology Faculty in Iaşi. We have discovered 5 species belonging to 3 genera of the Ptinidiae family: Ptinus brunneus Duftsch., P. raptor Sturm, P. fur L., Niptus hololeucus Fald. and Mezium affine Boield.. The paper presents comparative elements of external and internal morphology by means of scanning electronic microscope pictures, in order to easily determine the damaging Ptinidae species. Furthermore, recommendations are made on how to preserve the books, and on preventing the attack through monitoring the presence of damaging insects by use of kairomone traps. Keywords: old books, pests, Ptinidae, conservation Rezumat. Ptinide (Insecta, Coleoptera, Ptinidae) dăunătoare cărţilor vechi în România. Lucrarea prezintă unele aspecte privind atacul unor coleoptere dăunătoare şi pagubele provocate cărţilor vechi păstrate la Mănăstirile Agapia (judeţul Neamţ) şi Cetăţuia (judeţul Iaşi), în fondul de carte veche al Muzeului Bisericii “Sf. Nicolae” din Scheii Braşovului, precum şi asupra unor ierbare de la Facultatea de Biologie din Iaşi. Au fost semnalate 5 specii aparţinând la 3 genuri din familia Ptinidae: Ptinus brunneus Duftsch., P. raptor Sturm , P. fur L., Niptus hololeucus Fald. şi Mezium affine Boield. Sunt descrise comparativ elemente de morfologie externă şi internă cu ajutorul fotografiilor realizate la microscopul electronic cu baleiaj în scopul determinării facile a speciilor de Ptinidae dăunătoare. De asemenea, sunt făcute recomandări privind conservarea cărţilor şi prevenirea atacului prin monitorizarea prezenţei dăunătorilor cu ajutorul capcanelor cu momeli kairomonale. Cuvinte cheie: cărţi vechi, dăunători, Ptinidae, conservare

Introduction The old-century book, either hand-written or printed, carefully preserved

nowadays in conventual archives and museums, represents a valuable witness of our past, of the Christian faith and history of the Romanian people. Apart from its liturgical function, the book of prayer is an object of art in itself, if one is to consider the miniatures, the frontispieces, the richly-decorated opening letters it provides, the expensive materials - gold and silver - embellishing it, or the brilliant precious stones decorating it.

A genuine thesaurus of ideas, the book is equally a physical object, given that its material components represent the physico-chemical support of a trophic chain made up of numerous species which attack it in successive waves. Insects - which find in the old precious objects of cult both shelter and food - are their second most dangerous enemy, right after the human intervention itself. The abiotic factors (temperature - T, relative humidity - RH, light) develop their continuous actions on objects, thus inducing further intervention of the biotic element. Insects are lured by the various materials forming the book, consuming them in a preferential manner, and causing different types of deteriorations, both for their aspect and for their importance. Coleopterans belong to the most dangerous category of books' enemies, their attack developing as a function of their food preferences. Thus, Ptinidae cause serious damages, representing usually the second attacking group, after Anobiidae.

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The Ptinidae family includes about 500 known species, 24 of which have been shown as dangerous to the deposited materials. In nature, such insects are frequently found in the nests of both vertebrates and invertebrates (Bellés, 1978), birds' nests representing a possible source of infestation for museums’ collections. The sinantropic tendency of some species has to be considered, as important economic aspect might be here involved.

The museum of the “Saint Nicholas” Church of Şcheii Braşovului, the archives of the Cetăţuia Monastery (Iaşi) and the book deposit of the Agapia Monastery (Neamţ) shelter valuable volumes, representative for the history of printing in Romania. Therefore, the importance of such goods and the special care with which one has to preserve those goes without saying. The amplitude of insects' attack and, implicitly, the extent of deterioration they produce on books require a many-sided study – biological, ecological, etiological and morphological – of the species involved, for an efficient eradication. Furthermore, severe preventive and curative measures should be taken for a thorough control of such pests. Monitorization of the active presence of the damaging insects may be made by means of traps with pheromonal and kairomonal lures, measures of effective combat being indicated only in the case of a highly intense attack. Also, setting of the microclimatic parameters at values known as preventing the development of molds and of ptinids is recommended.

Material and Methods The investigations have been performed on the rare liturgical books preserved in

the “Saint Nicholas” Church Museum (Şcheii Braşovului) and in the storage rooms of books and liturgical objects at the Agapia (Neamţ) and Cetăţuia (Iaşi) monasteries. Each place presents its own conditions, which favour more or less the development of insect pests on rare books. First of all, in the Braşov deposit, in a place unheated during cold seasons, which means that the inside temperature decreases considerably, inversely proportional to the values of RH, there are stored over 2,700 volumes dated back to the 18th and the 19th centuries, horizontally displayed on metallic shelves, each book being protected by a paper cover.

In the storage room of old books at the Agapia Monastery, all the 3,500 volumes from the 18th and the 19th centuries, plus a few newer ones, are deposited on wood shelves wrapped up in cloth, to prevent the accumulation of dust. Unfortunately, the conditions of microclimate (low T and high values of RH) are entirely unsatisfactory, favouring the development of pests. The same temperature and RH values characterize the archives of the Cetăţuia Monastery, where the preservation of books, alongside icons painted on wood supports and other objects of cult, facilitates the infestation of the volumes by the same insects that attacked the other objects.

For the present study, the books have been selected according to their age, on the one hand, which allowed for a study on books from different periods of time, and the origin and area of the deposit in which they are preserved (once known that the microclimatic conditions vary sensibly in one and the same space), on the other. The books have been turned over page-by-page, their covers and bindings being analyzed as well. The biological samples have been collected in glass tubes temporarily labelled with information about their places of provenance (the number which represents the book in the catalogue of the collection, and the area within the book in which they had been found, especially the substrate under attack). Insects, alive or dead, and sometimes just bits and pieces found in books have helped identify the attacking species; the appearance of the damage left behind was usually unhelpful, at the very best indicating just the insect family.

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The material thus obtained has been investigated in the laboratory – i.e., it has been subjected to dissections, preparations in ‘Canada balsam’, scanning electronic microscope Tesla BS 300, optical microscope Novex K-Range and binocular magnifying glass Novex AP-8 images, for the determination of the species according to their morphological aspects. For the photographs taken at the Tesla BS 300 electronic microscope, the material was set on the plate with colloidal silver clay, and then it was metallized with three successive silver coats by rotating it at 120° in a cathode pulverization system.

It is quite difficult to point out an active presence of the Ptinidae, both adults and larvae being heliophobic, the former ones leaving their hiding places only at night. Furthermore, the adults manifest the phenomenon called tanathosis, pretending to be dead when they sense danger, for a few minutes and up to an hour, as Kozulina O. V. (1973) observed in the Ptinus fur species. Hence, we have collected Ptinus fur adults from the shelves of the Cetăţuia Monastery archive while they faked death, whereas they began moving once brought into the laboratory. In the same place we could only find fragments of adults and larvae exuviae in the actual books. As for the attack of the Mezium affine species on the herbaria exhibited along the hallways of the Biology Faculty in Iaşi, there are only the trails of the attack left, dead and fragmented adults; we can only infer their active presence through the existence of numerous live adults within the faculty building.

The Ptinidae attack on the two other locations could only be identified through the damage caused to the material, and through the discovery of dead adults and larvae, larvae exuviae and fragments; furthermore, being given the difficulty of a thorough examination of the objects, especially the covers, we resorted to traps in order to establish the active presence of insects. The lack of Ptinidae pheromone baits on the market determined us to use kairomone traps only. Hence, we tested STORGARD Beetle-Traps (DOMETM Design) with STORGARD RE-BAITTM Kairomone / food attractant manufactured by Trécé Inc., Adair from OK, USA. The traps have been placed on the floor, on shelves, in the old book warehouse of the Agapia Monastery (Neamţ), and in the hall that keeps most of the objects of the “St. Nicholas” Church Museum in Braşov. Since the book deposit areas were relatively small (15 m2), we placed two traps in each location. The traps have been kept there for a period of 4 months, starting with April 21st, 2006 in the first location, and May 16th, 2006 in the second one. These traps have been checked on weekly and we managed to capture a Ptinus brunneus female at Agapia during the first week of the observation, and two Ptinus fur females at Braşov, during the second week of having installed the traps at this location.

Although the total number of captured insects is low, be it due to a weak efficiency of the traps, or to a lower than usual intensity of the attacks, the conclusion to which we have reached is that both locations present an active attack of Ptinidae, which asks for the implementation of eradication methods.

Results and Discussion The investigations performed permitted the identification of 5 species, belonging

to 3 genera of the Ptinidae family (Table 1). The adults of this family are small-sized (2-4 mm), the shape of their body reflects two morphological tendencies: globular or elongated. Within the same species, such forms represent a characteristic of sexual dimorphism (in males they are parallel, while in females - oval), which is the case of the three species belonging to the Ptinus genus under analysis in the present study, although there are species in which both sexes have the same shape, for example, Niptus hololeucus and Mezium affine. The antennae - filiform, almost equal in length with the fore legs –

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along with the globular shape of the body make them highly similar to spiders, which explains, too, the name of the species: Niptus hololeucus, i.e., the Golden Spider Beetle.

a b c

Figure 1. Adults belonging to Niptus hololeucus (a), Mezium affine (b) and Ptinus raptor ♀ (c) species.

Table 1. Book damaging ptinids discovered during research.

Ord. Family Genus Specie Synonymy Experimental station

P. brunneus (Duftsch.1825)

Ptinus testaceus Oliv., 1790; Ptinus clavipes Panz., 1806; Ptinus hirtellus Sturm, 1837; Ptinus rufus Lucas, 1847; Ptinus hirticollis Lucas, 1847; Ptinus adven Woll., 1854; Ptinus lucasi Boield., 1856; Ptinus brevipenni Pic, 1896.

Agapia

P. raptor (Sturm 1837)

------------------------- Agapia, Braşov

Ptinus

P. fur (L. 1758)

Cerambyx fur L., 1758; Ptinus rapax De Geer, 1774; Ptinus germanus Goeze, 1777 ; Ptinus striatus Fabr., 1792 ; Ptinus longipes Rossi, 1794; Ptinus quercus Comolii, 1837 .

Agapia, Braşov, Cetăţuia

Niptus N. hololeucus (Fald. 1836)

Ptinus hololeucus Fald., 1835

Agapia

Col

eopt

era

Ptin

idae

Mezium M. affine (Boield. 1856)

Mezium sulcatum Curtis,1828; Mezium var. hirtipenne Reiche, 1864

Faculty of Biology- Iaşi

The structure of the pronotum is characteristic to the species, i.e., without distinct

sculpture - as in the case of Niptus hololeucus - or evidencing a pattern resulting from the arrangement of the hairs of different sizes, of pronotum's depressions as such, or of its granulations. Ptinus brunneus has the pronotum with low to prominent tubercles (Fig. 2e), being the only tubercle-bearing species of the three that belong to the Ptinus genus observed in this study. In the Ptinus raptor species, pronotum has a large, very dense, strongly elevated brush of golden hairs on each side of the median line on the sub-basal declivity; the median line between and before the brushes and a small area on each side before each brush polished and without sculpture (Fig. 2c), represent a characteristic that makes easier the differentiation from the Ptinus fur adults, which have no polished areas. In the Ptinus fur species, the pronotum has an elongate cluster of densely placed hairs on each side of the median line on the sub-basal declivity, and presented two large lateral hair spots as well (Fig. 2d). The Mezium affine adults have the pronotum with tomentum arranged in such a way that it appears to have a broad, shallow median sulcus and a board, feeble gibbosity on each side on the basal half (Fig. 2b).

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Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „AL. I. CUZA” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LII, 2006

aging species in cases where the attack le

c d

d e

Figure 2. Pronotum structure Niptus hololeucus , Mezium affine (b), Ptinus raptor (c -♀, c’- fur (d -♀, d ♂) and P. brunneus (e -♀, e’ -♂).

posterior , a ra presents a few stou

the

The adornment of the elytra offers possible clues related to the species involved, which comes in handy when trying to determine the dam

aves behind only fragments of adults, such as the elytra. In regards to the presented species belonging to the Ptinus genus, besides hairs of different lengths present on striations and interstriations, each elytron evidences scales. As a function of both sex and species, they are more or less visible - for example, the female of the Ptinus brunneus species shows on each elytron a subhumeral patch of appressed, very pale yellow hairs, absent on the male of the same species. The females of the other Ptinus species have each elytron with a sub-basal and a subapical patch of appressed, elongated, white scales (Fig. 1c). For the Ptinus fur and P. raptor, the males have the scales on the elytra.

a b

e

c’ ’ ’

characteristics - (a)♂), P. ’ -

Mezium affine is broadly oval with elytra very strongly convex and inflated

nd shining, dark reddish-brown to nearly black cuticle. The elytlyt, erect hairs near the collar on each side of the suture, as well as on the extreme

apical region and is missing any longitudinal striations. Niptus hololeucus is strongly convex, but the reddish-brown, shining cuticle is covered with golden vestiture, as is the rest of the body. However, the adults of these species have striations on the elytra.

The Ptinus genus raises many difficulties during research, the morphological resemblance of its members making it laborious to separate similar species. The examination of the male genital armature can offer important clues regarding to

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particula

a b

b c

Figure 3. The elytra ornaments representative for the Ptinus raptor♂) and P. brunneus (c -♀, c’ -♂) speci .

r species. For the Ptinus raptor, P. fur and P. brunneus species, the male genital armature structure varies as shown in Figure 4, and it can be easily differentiated by the structure of the aedeagus.

c

a’ ’ ’

(a -♀, a’ -♂), P. fur (b -♀, b’ -es

a b c

Figure 4. Male genital armature at the Ptinus raptor (a), P. fur (b) and P. brunneus (c) species. Ptinids are ins s subjected to complete me orphosis, developing along

stages, affine species white, elongated oval, of a lemon-like shape. Its colour varies along the

ect tam 4 as follows: egg, larva, pupa and adult. For example, the egg of the Mezium

is

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Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „AL. I. CUZA” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LII, 2006 embryon

fact made possible by their longevity. Although the range of the optimum

b

ic development towards yellowish-brown, allowing for the darker mandibles to be clearly visible.

This species produces 1-2 generations a year in unheated places and 2-3 ones, respectively, in spaces provided with heating systems, where the adults may be found even in winter, a

temperature values is quite large - e.g., between 23°C for Ptinus fur (Howe & Burges, 1951) and 39°C, respectively, for Niptus hololeucus (Mustaţă, 1994) - the optimum value of RH for most of the species is 70%. Consequently, for humidity values close to the optimum ones, less than favorable temperature conditions will only extend the life cycle of such pests, by the occurrence of diapause periods under severe conditions (cool temperatures), which will obviously result in an even more intense attack upon objects. As an immediate conclusion we can stress the importance of controlling the RH values within the book deposit areas towards values below 60%, in concordance with the type of the preserved objects.

a c

Figure 5. Meziu leather (b) and

T egetal or

animal or ues, and even wood, cotton, feathers, collections of d birds, etc. In books, they also feed on t

ut of celluloses and animal clay, is a substrate preffered by the Ptinidae

ente excrements (Fig. 8). The galleries may trigger fragmentation in the paper, causing the pages to fall out. When analyzing books with wooden covers, we pointed out

m affine – the egg (a) and the neonate larva on

Ptinus fur - the pupa (c).

he insects that were studied during the research feed on substances of vigin such as seeds, toba l, as well as paper, tisscco, bread, flour, woo

insects, stuffehe animal clay and the leather, damaging the bindings. The lesions caused by the

Ptinidae larvae and adults - occurring as galleries and orifices - are similar to those produced by Anobiidae.

During the research we have noticed the attack of Ptinidae on board covers and the leather covering them, as well as on the paper surrounding the binding. The old board, a material that is made o

. The larvae created deep galleries in the covers, of an unruly structure, and filled with excrements and remains of larvae. Inside the board, at the end of the feeding gallery, the larvae build their cocoons out of particles, collected from the environment and out of their own silk secretions. It is here that the adults leave the cocoons and try to leave the substrate in order to mate, but some of them cannot make it and end up dying in the galleries (Figs. 6, 7). The leather is showing the marks of the flight orifices created by the adults.

Within the book itself, the paper damage is centered on the bindings, especially at the beginning and at the end of the volume, the irregular galleries being covered with pulverul

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the pres

ed a combined attack o

ence of Ptinidae within the pages, which can be explained by the preference towards paper, or through the limitations encountered when collecting insects at the surface of the wood, since the deep galleries were basically incontrollable.

Although considered most dangerous after Anobiidae, Ptinidae can cause serious damages and can initiate an attack when they do not dispose of previously damaged books. This is obvious in the case of various volumes kept in the Agapia Monastery deposit, where we did not track down the presence of anobiids, but we notic

f multiple species of Ptinidae. Furthermore, we have found members of the two families in the old book reserve from the “St. Nicholas” Church Museum in Braşov.

a b c

loleucus on the leather cover (a) (c) - Book of the Hours (1817),

Figure 6. Damages caused by Ptinus raptor, P. fur and Niptus hoand detail (b) and Niptus hololeucus dead adult inside the galleries

rhad no c vers at all. The Ptinus fur und in three cardboard cover books and in 4 wooden cover books, while Ptinus raptor has been found in a slightly lower number

s that do not present

ia (Neamţ) and Cetăţuia Monaste şi), and some herbaria from Faculty of Biology (Iaşi) made into evidence 5 species s belonging to 3 genera of the Ptinidae family, for which a brief description has been provided. The importance of a correct identification of the concerned

Agapia Monastery. Within the Braşov book deposit, out of the 2,700 volumes, we studied 56

andomly selected volumes. 21 had cardboard covers, 29 had wooden covers, and 6 others species has been foo

of books: 2 cardboard cover ones, and 1 wooden cover. The frequency of Ptinus fur presence is 14.2% in cardboard cover books, and 13.7% in wooden cover books. For the Ptinus raptor species, the frequency is 9.5% and 3.4% respectively. The higher frequency of the P. raptor species in cardboard cover books indicates the preference for this type of material, while for the P. fur the difference is insignificant. There is an evident prevalence of Ptinus fur species over P. raptor within both types of objects.

Making a comparison between the Ptinidae and Anobidae attacks, we can note that the latter are dominant on both types of books: 33.3% as compared to 19% on cardboard covers, and 58.6% as compared to 13.7% on wooden cover books. The data gathered from this analysis indicates that the ptinids are able to infest volume

a previous Anobidae attack, this being proven by volumes that only presented traces of Ptinidae (1 cardboard cover book and 2 wooden cover).

Conclusions The investigations performed on the old book fund at the Museum of the “St.

Nicholas” Church at Şcheii Braşovului, in the deposit of the Agapries (Iaof coleopteran

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Analele Ştiinţifice ale Universităţii „AL. I. CUZA” Iaşi, s. Biologie animală, Tom LII, 2006 species

aunch combined attacks of two or three Ptinidae species. The study of Ptinidae in the Braş

Figure 7. The attack of Ptinus raptor Monastery 1840): overall of the first cover (a), dead b) and orifices

created by adults within the lower ok deposit of the

- with the purpose of finding an efficient eradication- led to a thorough electronic microscope analysis of morphological details like the structure of the pronotum, of the genital organs or of the elytra ornaments, which were presented comparatively in the above study.

As evidenced in the figures accompanying the observations made during the study, the damages induced by Ptinidae are significant, being evidenced on all types of materials that constitute the volumes. Furthermore, these coleopterans have the ability to attack not only volumes previously damaged by Anobiidae, but also to initiate an attack and to l

ov book deposit proved the prevalence of the Ptinus fur species over the P. raptor, not only on cardboard cover books, but also on those that have wooden covers. On both types of material we have observed the prevalence of Anobiidae over Ptinidae.

a b c

on a board cover of a “Antologhie” (NeamţPtinus raptor adult within cardboard galleries (

side of the second cover, exterior (c) – the old boAgapia Monastery.

a b

Figure 8. Damages caused by Ptinus fur and P. raptor on the paper from inside the Euchologion book (Bucureşti 1722) and detail (b) – The “St. Nicholas” Church Museum reserve from Braşov.

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Severe preventive and curative measures should be taken for a thorough control of such pests. Monitorization of the active presence of the damaging insects may be made by means of traps with kairomonal lures, measures of effective combat being indicated only in the case of a highly intense attack. Also, setting of the microclimatic parameters at values known as preventing the development of ptinids is recommended, most importantly being the RH control, whose value should not rise above 60%.

Acknowledgements I would like to thank Prof. Dr. Gheorghe Mustaţă for the bibliography he

provided me and the support he offered during the studies. For special counsel and direction, I wish to thank Prof. Dr. Ionel Andriescu. My gratitude goes out towards the Trece Incorporated USA Company that offered me the kairomone traps. Least but not last, I wish to express my thankfulness to Prof. Dr. Vasile Oltean from the Museum of the First Ro anian School in Braşov, to Emilia Staicu from A Arsenie from the Cetăţuia Monastery for t r thoughtfulness and patience during the re tr

Mustaţă, M., 1994. Contribuţii la cunoaşterea şi combaterea coleopterelor dăunătoare obiectelor din de Doctorat, Universitatea “Al. I. Cuza”, Iaşi, 156-180, 193-232.

m gapia Monastery and to Fatherhei

search that took place at the old book deposits, including the placement of kairomoneaps at those locations.

References

Bellés, X., 1978. Ensayo sobre los representantes catalanes de la familia Ptinidae (Col.). Miscel.lània Zoològica, Barcelona, IV (2): 87-123.

Howe, R. W., Burges, H. D., 1951. Studies on beetles of the family Ptinidae. IV.- The biology of Ptinus fur (L.) and P. sexpunctatus Panzer. Bull. Ent. Research 42 (3): 499-511.

Kozulina, O.V., 1973. Un gândac din familia Ptinidae, dăunător periculos al cărţilor. Probleme de patologie a cărţii, Bucureşti, 7: 143-158.

patrimonial naţional. Teză

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