Little red bug in my tying material

Hi group.

I know this has been posted before sometimes but here goes.
I found little red insects in my pheasant tail feathers, earlier I had thrown away peacock feathers from China, they were in a badly closed bag.
I didn't do anything the first time when I found the infected peacock feathers

I put my infected feathers in the freezer and rest outside where temperature was below freezing.

So, what can I do, we have a thing here in Iceland called Rodalon, does that work or do I need something stronger?
I don't think we have mothballs here in Iceland, i really don't know.

Can these things go through plastic bags?

I would rather not throw away my feathers it's replacing them would cost me hundreds of dollars.

Regards,
Thorarinn, Iceland

Forget the freezing and the microwave. Find a product to kill bugs that contains paradichlorobenzene as the active ingredient. If you can't find something like that you might try washing everything in a flea shampoo that is used for pets and then repackage in new bags. Washing with borax in the water will also work and you can put dry borax in the bag with the material. Messy but no bugs.

Most products that are used in a closet or chest to protect clothing from moths will work.

You might also contact a natural history museum and see what they use to protect their animal and bird specimens.

Good luck getting rid of the critters.

Jerry

I used those "moth crystals". I put my feathers in large heavy duty zip loc bags, double bagged. Forgot about them for a month or so and it killed the little buggers.

Now. I zip lock bag all my feathers separately to reduce risk.

If you use harvested bird feathers, be careful. Seems like all wild birds have bugs of some kind or other.

Isolate them. Buy a dogs flea collar and cut into 1" pcs. and zip up tightly inside with your hackles. The chemicals will kill off most bugs and larvae.


Here is something I'd saved from long ago. I think the originator is very well versed:

DEBUGGING MATERIALS 1. Until proven otherwise, any new material to a collection is to be considered contaminated ─ no matter what the source. 2. Always be on the lookout in your tying room for contamination by "bugs." 3. Some bug killers are carcinogenic, so take care in handling and avoid prolonged breathing. 4. Microwaving cannot be depended on to kill eggs, larvae and/or adults. 5. Freezing will kill larvae and adults, but cannot be depended upon to kill eggs. 6. To kill, commercial bug sprays can be sprayed/poured onto a rag which is then sealed in a container with buggy materials. Again, this may not kill all eggs. After this process, wash the material to remove the insecticide. 7. If moth crystals are used, seal them with the material. a. This fumigates the material. b. It reduces fumes in the storage area. c. Reduces waste of crystals (slows evaporation). d. Paradichlorobenzene kills, naphthalene deters.

8. Specifically for Variegated Carpet Beetles, a way to kill them is to cycle them. Their hatching is cyclic over a period of about 30-45 days. Place the material into a plastic bag in the freezer overnight. Then bring the material out and place in room temperature, dark location for 30-45 days. Again place the material back into the freezer again. Another solution is to periodically open up the entire room to extremes of hot or cold. For instance during the heat of summer or cold of winter, open the window to the room that your tying materials are in. These bugs do not tolerate extremes of hot or cold. Prepare the room accordingly so that nothing is damaged by these extreme climate changes, such as moisture on furniture, etc. STORAGE OF MATERIALS Use sealable storage jars or plastic bags A. When using plastic sealed bags (Ziplock or heat-sealed), it can be assumed unlikely that bugs will get into the bag, but may eat their way out of a bag they are in. B. Plastic or glass jars may not store as compactly as plastic bags, but are sealable. C. It is wise when storing multiple materials in a given space to use multiple sealed bags to compartmentalize materials and reduce carry-over problems with bugs. D. Make sure the material is completely dry before storing to avoid mildew.


Jeremy.

Thank you for interesting answers

Many good advices I can use.
In the future I will definitely put all my feathers and hairs in zip loc bags.

I will wash the featers and hairs that I keep and throw away the rest.
Sprey the drawers with somekind of pesticides (I found one here called "Killer 1", haha, scary name).

Thanks,
Thorarinn

I found that keeping old glass salt shakers with a piece of dog flea collar in each of the containers I keep my fly tying materials in helps kill bugs and keeps others from attacking my material. The salt shakers only cost about 1 dollar and they last forever. The holes in the top of the shakers allow the fumes to get out so that the flea collar can do it work without me having to worry that it is actually touching any of my materials. I've also used this method successfully with moth balls, but the smell of the moth balls gives me a headache so I switched over to flea collar.

Jim Smith

Thanks Jim, I haven't heard that one, I think I will give that a try. Will the chemical melt a plastic shaker?

Just make sure your bug killer is paradichlorobenzine and not simply based on naptha.

thorarinna,

besides going thru the normal freeze and thaw routine and storing in zip lock bags , I also put some cedar chips in my containers, much like one would do when storing clothing in a chest. cant say that it really works, put haven't had a bug infestation since I left florida in 1997, and it doesn't smell like mothballs

I was stationed in rejkavick, pleas excuse the spelling, in 1970, beautiful country.

I actually found a bunch of the old glass with chrome top salt shakers at Goodwill. They cost me about 50 cents each and I have not problems with them at all.

Great idea about the cedar chips. They smell a whole lot better than the moth balls I have always used.

You can also use cotton balls dipped in cedar oil inside the salt shakers which allows you to keep the cedar smell nice and strong. After a while the cedar blocks or chips dry out and lose their odor. You can get the cedar oil from Amazon.com and a pint would last you for several years. I find the cedar is a fairly good deterrent for bugs but not that good if you suspect that you may have some bugs in your materials.

Jim Smith

Thanks guys.

Cedar chips, isn't it wood chips, isn't that more of a food for the insects?

No. Cedar contains a natural insect repellant. That is why many closets and chests for storing clothing in are lined with cedar.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by thorarinna

Thanks guys.

Cedar chips, isn't it wood chips, isn't that more of a food for the insects?

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The cedar wood which they are talking about is a species called Eastern Redcedar. It isn't a true cedar, it is a juniper, Juniperus virginiana. The essential oil is an insect repellant, but it doesn't kill insects. It isn't likely to drive out an established infestation. The eggs are likely to survive freezing. I am afraid that you will need to go with a more toxic solution, such as paradichlorobenzene moth balls or moth crystals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1,4-Dichlorobenzene A hint that it isn't as powerful against insects as its reputation can be gleaned from the huge numbers of caterpillars who cheerfully munch the leaves every summer.

One last thought about the essential ordering oil. The part of the state in which I live is called middle Tennessee (as opposed to the regions of east and west Tennessee). This area (and adjacent northern Alabama) is the center of the eastern redcedar industry for the world. This means both timber and extracting the essential oil. I heard a few years ago that some of the people who cook crystal meth had found a technique for using the essential oil to replace certain drugs used in making the illegal methamphetamine. I don't know if that will make it more difficult for you to order the oil or not. A final warning about the oil. Too much of it will mildly poison and repel people, too. Too much of it in the air can definitely cause painful headaches.

Regards,
Ed

A number of years ago I was an authorized importer of feathers into the US from countries such as India and China.

At the time, I was required by the Pennsylvania department of agriculture to disinfect these feathers using a formaldehyde solution. I don't remember the exact dilution percentage, but it may have been a 10% solution. I don't know if formaldehyde is still used for that purpose, but if you have access to it, soaking your feathers in it over night will not harm the feathers and will certainly kill any insects in them.

I do not trust ceder alone. The worth of my fur and feathers is probably a couple grand or more. New material goes into a sealed garbage bag with a box of paradichlorobenzene moth balls and gets sealed for at least one month. I don't care what the source of the material is. Then it is stored in bags in plastic boxes with the same moth balls. Whenever I get some material out of one of those boxes I make sure there are a few of the moth balls in the box. At least once a year I inspect the boxes that are not used much and replace the moth balls in them.

Materials I process myself are washed in a solution of borax and Dawn dishwashing detergent. That material gets the same treatment when dry. Into the big garbage bag with the moth balls for at least a month.

I have never had a bug infestation in 50 plus years of collecting fur and feather for fly tying.

Jerry