Stuffed animals in museums are prepared in such a way that they remain good for a long time. The natural process of decay that occurs after the death of an animal has been stopped by the taxidermist, so that the animals look as if they are still alive. But they do not last forever, insect pests in particular can threaten historic nature collections.
The photo series The Second Death by the Austrian photographer Klaus Pichler portrays it in a compelling way. Pichler accompanied biologist Pascal Querner, who specializes in combating insect pests in museum collections. Querner doesn’t want to use too many chemical pesticides because of their toxicity to curators and visitors. Instead, he relies on precautions such as establishing a good microclimate, controlling with glue traps and treating affected museum pieces with cold, carbon dioxide or nitrogen to kill any eggs and larvae. Books produced by the bread beetle (Stegobium paniceum) are infected, he wraps them in plastic to suffocate the pests.
Pascal Querner packs books in an airtight container that have been eaten by the bread beetle. A weeks-long treatment should save the books.
A zebra skeleton, including parts of the skin, near the nitrogen chamber in the museum’s basement. Nitrogen must displace oxygen so that any pests are killed.
Photos Klaus Pichler/Anzenberger Agency
The transience in nature museums has its own beauty. Many stuffed animals that Pichler photographed have been eaten by the clothes moth (Tineola bisselliella). He placed them in dramatic background scenes, making them resemble the surrealistic scenes of Salvador Dalí.
The North American wasp beetle (Reesa vespulae) is notorious for its devastating effect on insect collections and herbaria. In Europe, the insect is considered an invasive exotic species that is difficult to eradicate. This is mainly because females can reproduce asexually. This means that the infection with a single specimen can develop into a plague. Pichler photographed the damage to a tree-of-heaven butterfly (Samia Cynthia), of which only a wing remained between the cocoons and the larvae of the beetle. Also a leaf beetle (Protaetia speciosissima) and the chitin armor of a bug in the collection did not survive the attack.
Damage by the North American wasp beetle and the clothes moth to a stuffed dormouse, the wing of a tree-of-heaven butterfly, a leaf beetle, a bug, a domestic cat and a woodchuck.
Photos Klaus Pichler/Anzenberger Agency