Posted by Dave Bull on September 10, 1998 at 18:14:34:
In Reply to: Worms posted by Nils U. Bosshard on September 10, 1998 at 04:22:47:
: Does anybody know who is responsible for all these "worm holes" in Japanese prints?
: I suppose they are not proper worms in the biological sense; and do they live only in Japan? I have never encoutered one in Europe!
Sorry about this Nils, but 'real' worms are the culprit!
The Japanese name for the insect is 'shibanmushi', and I understand
that this usually translates as 'deathwatch beetle'.
It is a "small size beetle about 3 millimetres, famous as
harmful insects of second-hand books. They do not damage
the pasted part of the book as the 'shimi' (Yamato bookworm)
but damage the book by making tunnel holes."
(Quote is from 'Handbook on the Art of Washi', published in
1991 by the 'All Japan Handmade Washi Association'.)
Dave Bull