London (CNN) – An army of small, parasitic wasps will be unleashed inside the stately English home where Anne Boleyn was born, to hunt and wipe out moths that threaten the furniture and artifacts of the mansion.
Blickling Hall in Norfolk, East of England, could not contain a raid on clothing moths, which could damage the carpets, furniture, clothing and other wool and silk objects in the historic home.
But managers believe the insects will encounter their match when they feed a number of microscopic, parasitic wasps in the building.
The wasp – Trichogramma evanescens – measures about 0.5 millimeters and is barely visible to humans.
They will look for moth eggs and lay their own eggs in it so that a new wasp hatches instead of a moth larva.
Once their kamikaze mission is complete, the wasps will eventually die and disappear into house dust, say property managers, who believe the pest control effort is the first of its kind in a heritage environment.
“We sincerely hope that this pioneering approach will provide a practical and sustainable method that any of our properties can use to deal with serious pests,” Hilary Jarvis, Assistant Conservator of the National Trust, said in a statement.
“Although rare, (the moths) can sometimes be immune to our usual, gentler approaches, with potentially serious results.”
The Trust, which manages the property, said the wasps would be delivered in small card holders that could be “discreetly hung or placed in drawers or open rooms.”
Blickling Hall was listed in the 11th century Domesday Book, Britain’s earliest public record, and was later owned by Geoffrey Boleyn.
His granddaughter, Anne Boleyn, was apparently born in the house. She then became Henry VIII’s fatal second wife and gave birth to the future Queen Elizabeth I and later killed by being beheaded after failing to deliver a son to the ruler.
It now welcomes visitors, but was shut down during England’s third national coronavirus exclusion.
“When we closed all our homes, we knew insects were likely to thrive, so pest monitoring was high on our list of essential tasks by 2020,” Jarvis said. He also cites Britain’s mild winter as a reason for the growth in moth numbers.