This season's infestation is...
Booklice! Yum. (Bleurgh).
Thank you University of Birmingham Library!
At first I wasn't sure whether they were book mites or wool mites, as I was wearing a jumper I hadn't worn for ages while reading the book. After a while I noticed there were tiny little mites crawling on the desk, near the book and my jumper-clad elbow - yikes!
I started catching them under bits of tape. They were really really tiny - some even more tiny than others - and white. They tended to squish under the tape so I couldn't save a specimen. They did appear to be radiating out from the book - but then my elbow was on the book.
When I appeared to have caught them all, I put the book in a plastic tub and the jumper in the bath. I washed the other clothes I was wearing and the ones which had been with the jumper. I hoovered around my desk, and have since been through every single piece of paper on my desk, and the books kept with the mite-book, but haven't seen any more. After much googling I've decided on booklice - so while my fibre stash is safe my book collecton might not be :-/ All my other library books are in a plastic tub in quarantine.
The offending book is now taped up in two bags and in the freezer - it will be going back to the library!
Eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww *itchy*
Thank you University of Birmingham Library!
At first I wasn't sure whether they were book mites or wool mites, as I was wearing a jumper I hadn't worn for ages while reading the book. After a while I noticed there were tiny little mites crawling on the desk, near the book and my jumper-clad elbow - yikes!
I started catching them under bits of tape. They were really really tiny - some even more tiny than others - and white. They tended to squish under the tape so I couldn't save a specimen. They did appear to be radiating out from the book - but then my elbow was on the book.
When I appeared to have caught them all, I put the book in a plastic tub and the jumper in the bath. I washed the other clothes I was wearing and the ones which had been with the jumper. I hoovered around my desk, and have since been through every single piece of paper on my desk, and the books kept with the mite-book, but haven't seen any more. After much googling I've decided on booklice - so while my fibre stash is safe my book collecton might not be :-/ All my other library books are in a plastic tub in quarantine.
The offending book is now taped up in two bags and in the freezer - it will be going back to the library!
Eeeeeeeeeewwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww *itchy*
posted by DMK @ 4:52 PM
2 Comments:
At 12:15 AM,
Anonymous said…
Ewww.
I thought of you today. We had a History and Classics joint conference yesterday and today. Dr Fear was there!
Hope things are going well with the MPhil.
At 6:59 PM,
Anonymous said…
Well, I've heard of bookworms......but book lice, oh no!
I do remember when I was at Uni of Manchester that a lady used to be employed in the History stacks dusting all the books one by one. I thought at the time that it was a thankless task, like painting the Forth Bridge, But maybe not.....
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