Hi folks! David Calhoun wrote (of eaten jack springs):

> One has heard
>of the Bristle Pest, a mite which devours just that dietary item, 
>which would have ridden along when they came from England.
>
Came from England?  What makes you think that?  The little nuisances 
are endemic here in Virginia, so why should the west coast be any 
different? 

Oh, yes - they eat quills too!

>Are these things contageous?  Will they nibble their way up the
>scale?  And is there a treatment short of an exterminator?  Can
>I survey my packet of replacements to ensure that they're not
>infested?
>
They are like eighteenth century mice: they self-generate: mice in 
old clothes in closets, and these little beasts in harpsichords!! 
(Oh, yes - goose barnacles turned into geese as well back then!!!)  
Interesting thought processes.

Over the years I have heard them described variously as moth larvae -
 the kind that eat the woollen cloth in dampers and keybed cloth, and 
carpet beetles though I am not clear whether these are the same or 
are  interchangeable!!!!

One last point: wire and nylon springs don't get eaten, neither do 
Celcon/Delrin plectra. But of course they're not authentick are they?

Not much help I fear!

Peter Redstone,
Harpsichord and Spinet Maker,
http://www.redstoneharpsichords.com