Bookworm is a popular generalization for any insect that is said to bore through books.[1][2]
True book-borers are uncommon. Two types of moths, the common clothes moth and the brown house moth, will attack cloth bindings.[3][4] Leather-bound books attract various beetles, such as the larder beetle,[5] drugstore beetle[6] and the larva of the black carpet beetle.[7] Larval death watch beetles and common furniture beetles will tunnel through wood and paper (if it is nearby the wood).[8][9]
Booklice
A major book-feeding insect is the book or paper louse (also known as booklouse or paperlouse). These are tiny (under 1 mm), soft-bodied wingless Psocopterans (usually Trogium pulsatorium), which feed on microscopic molds and other organic matter found in ill-maintained works (e.g., cool, damp, dark, and undisturbed areas of archives, libraries, and museums), although they will also attack bindings and other book parts, making the booklouse not a true louse.[10]
By the 20th century, modern bookbinding materials thwarted much of the damage done to books by various types of book-boring insects.[11]
See also
References
- ^ "Bookworm insect". Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ Wiener, Ann Elizabeth (2018). "What's That Smell You're Reading?". Distillations. 4 (1): 36–39. Retrieved July 11, 2018.
- ^ "Identifying and controlling clothes moths, carpet beetles and silverfish". Department of Primary Industries and Regional Development. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Brown house moth Hofmannophila pseudospretella (Stainton)". Canadian Grain Commission. 2013-08-30. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Larder beetle". Canadian Grain Commission. 2013-08-30. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Drugstore beetle". University of Florda. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Black Carpet Beetle". Penn State. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Woodworm Anobium Punctatum". buildingconservation.com. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Deathwatch beetle". Encyclopædia Britannica, inc. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ "Bugs That Eat Books!". Colonial Pest Control Inc. 2013-03-21. Retrieved April 6, 2018.
- ^ Murray, Stuart (2009). The Library: An Illustrated History. New York, NY: Skyhorse Publishing. p. 198.
Further reading
- "John Francis Xavier O'Conor, Facts about bookworms: their history in literature and work in libraries (New York: Francis P. Harper, 1898.)
- "Bookworms: The Most Common Insect Pests of Paper in Archives, Libraries, and Museums". Dr. John V. Richardson Jr., PhD.
- "Timber Borers – Anobium & Lyctus Borers"
- "Study on integrated pest management for libraries and archives" – prepared by Thomas A Parker for the General Information Programme and UNISIST (Paris: Unesco, 1988)