Insect pests and Integrated Pest Management in the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo, Italy

The Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo contain over 1800 bodies dating from the 16th-20th centuries. Human remains and other materials within the catacombs are currently infested by a variety of insect pest species. To evaluate the community of organisms associated with these materials, the activity and abundance of insect pests were investigated. Sticky blunder traps and pheromone traps for webbing clothes moths were employed. An array of arthropods was collected in this way, including several orders of insects. The most important pest species recovered were two types of wood-boring beetles (Order Coleoptera), Anobium punctatum De Geer, 1774 and Hexarthrum exiguum (Boheman, 1838) belonging to two different taxonomic families. Both species require high wood moisture to develop, demonstrating that the environmental conditions within the catacombs were optimal for the development of these beetles. Additionally, two types of moths (Order Lepidoptera), the webbing clothes moth, Tineola bisselliella (Hummel, 1823), and the case-bearing clothes moth, Tinea pellionella (Linnaeus, 1758), were recovered. Both moths are important pests of textiles. The detection of oriental cockroaches (Order Blattodea), Blatta orientalis Linnaeus, 1758, indicated that the cleaning and sealing of the catacombs needs to be improved.