Book Lice - what did you do?

[Guest photorob]

Some background: upon searching, I've read a few threads about crawly bastards of all kinds that can be found in a humidor, as well as the latest post from Pres about a week ago that seemed to show a mite on a cigar.

That was actually of great help. Having recently read that thread, I didn't have an absolute heart attack when finding something crawling in the bottom of one of my humidors last week while doing a regular stick rotation. It was a tiny insect, and after reading Fugu's very informative post, and also doing more research, I concluded that it was definitely book lice based on the horizontal lines on the abdomen and matching shape. I have since found another once running feverishly at the bottom of that humidor every two or three days. Far from an outbreak, but still, a new louse each time.

There has been no damage to any cigars, and these guys are so tiny I had a hard time trying to pick one up with the tip of a knife or with the edge of a sheet of paper without crushing it. I did however trap one and finally get a good photo of it to confirm it is not a beetle.

So my question: what is the best course of action for book lice? A lot of people chimed into the threads saying they had mites or lice and they were harmless. Did you freeze your stash? Did you open your humidor and let in sunlight? Did you let them run their course?? I've seen all of these suggested when it comes to glue mites, but not a lot about book lice so I thought I'd post.

I will attach a few photos of what I found in my humidor to keep this informative, and it will hopefully be of use to other board members in the future. (sorry about the photo quality, I would never have seen them against the spanish cedar if they didn't run so fast)

Sample Photo

What I found:

Enlarged

[cigcars]

*It's not just lice that like pages of yester yore. The biggest problems many of us avid readers of books and especially back issue magazines that are printed on regular paper instead of the newer plastic-coat pages, are rodents that love to gorge themselves literally to death on that paper (thus that's why so many privately owned bookstores keep cats around). And if you don't want to breathe in a lot of bug spray, the natural stuff that used to be used years ago really work; I'm talking about peppermint and spearmint tea bags that I toss in among the volumes I have. A really good deterrent to pesky multi-legged visitors. And Eucalyptus oil combined with peppermint oil is "better than Deet" in natural insect repellents. Dab or spray the corners of where your books are setting with these oils. I haven't seen an annoying insect critter return yet where those items are used.

[cigcars]

*It's not just lice that like pages of yester yore. The biggest problems many of us avid readers of books and especially back issue magazines that are printed on regular paper instead of the newer plastic-coat pages, are rodents that love to gorge themselves literally to death on that paper (thus that's why so many privately owned bookstores keep cats around). And if you don't want to breathe in a lot of bug spray, the natural stuff that used to be used years ago really work; I'm talking about peppermint and spearmint tea bags that I toss in among the volumes I have. A really good deterrent to pesky multi-legged visitors. And Eucalyptus oil combined with peppermint oil is "better than Deet" in natural insect repellents. Dab or spray the corners of where your books are setting with these oils. I haven't seen an annoying insect critter return yet where those items are used.

** I just went back and read a little closer your comments...NO, I WOULDN'T use any of these oils/tea bags in my humidors!!! Whew! I thought you just meant keeping your BOOKS clear of these little annoyances! I've never had any of these book lice in my humidors - just the usual undesired, unwelcome sight of Lasioderma Serracorne (tobacco beetles ). And then it's just the usual painstaking bagging the cigars and freezing them, etc., etc.

[Fugu]

Hi Rob,

Book lice - while they are not really a threat for cigars, these litte critters can be annoying. And one should certainly avoid a more serious infestation. So, better safe than sorry and stop it right at the beginning. Here’s my 2cts:

Since the humidor climate is perfect for them, there is not much that can be done about altering storage conditions, e.g. like in tobacco beetles, where keeping the temperature low does help a lot to avoid hatching. Although also here, reproductive rate will depend on the temperature level.

And since book lice are dwelling synanthropically in almost every household, the best one can do is to prevent them from entering the storage compartment in the first place. There are some things that can be done, but I won’t overdo the freezing with your cigars.

1. When found within the humidor/locker/cabinet, thoroughly vac-clean it (dispose off collected matter/cleaner bag immediately).
2. Inspect your boxes. In cabinet boxes it is rather easy, pull the bundle out and check the inner side and bottom of the box. Vacuum clean and put cigars back. In dress boxes a bit more tricky since you won’t want to remove all cigars from the box. For a quick inspection, if you have a reasonable suspicion of infestation, you may just do the flip bottom-up technique for inspecting the inner bottom of the box and the underside of the cigars (where the lice, if present, would preferably but not exclusively be found)
3. If possible remove unnecessary herbal matter from the storage room where you keep your stash (like moldy potted plants and the like).
4. Check repeatedly, initially on a weekly basis.
5. Finally, avoid re-invasion by:
   1. If there is a carpeting in your storage room, place your cabinet on a plastic sheet covering, like the ones used for office chairs as a flooring protection. Alternatively, remove the carpet and go with a nice hard floor (wood, tiling, linoleum etc.) instead. While the beasts will not be deterred completely by that, they are less likely to dwell there since there is nothing to feed upon on this surface (in a carpet, as clean as it might appear, there is always some utilizable matter)
   2. Check the room walls for defective wall paper, in partic. near the lower skirting. Repair and paint where necessary.
   3. Check the door seals of your cabinet.

… and you should be fine.

A final hint - Presence of book lice may be indicative of a too high humidity perhaps in combination with slight fungal growth, mold in a stage which one would not necessarily notice visually. Keeping rH low might be supportive (not higher than mid 60s).

Paul

[Guest photorob]

Paul! Thanks for that. You seem to be the leading authority on this stuff my friend.

I keep my humidors at 64%, and I live in a relatively new and clean condo with hardwood floors, so I'm really not sure how this happened.

Maybe 1 or 2 got through in a cigar box?

I've been checking twice a week, finding 1 each time. I'm taking your advice as saying freezing is not necessary, but I should keep up my inspections and an eye on my RH?

[Fugu]

Paul! Thanks for that. You seem to be the leading authority on this stuff my friend.

I keep my humidors at 64%, and I live in a relatively new and clean condo with hardwood floors, so I'm really not sure how this happened.

Maybe 1 or 2 got through in a cigar box?

I've been checking twice a week, finding 1 each time. I'm taking your advice as saying freezing is not necessary, but I should keep up my inspections and an eye on my RH?

Your very welcome, bro (by far not an expert in this field but not a layman either... )

Yes, very likely that they went in through new acquisitions from what you describe. One of the rare occasions where I found them was in one of two boxes of rather fresh QdO Imperiales, crawling on the top cedar sheet on inspection directly after receipt of the plastic-wrapped boxes.... So, such may just happen from time to time.

Keeping the wider storage "environment" clean, as you describe it for yours, will certainly help.

Paul