FLESH EATING BEETLES ON SMITHSONIAN PAYROLL

Strange but true. The Osteology lab of the Smithsonian’s Natural History Museum in Washington DC routinely uses the Dermestid beetle (Dermestes maculatus) to safely and delicately clean flesh and fatty tissue from the bones of their newly acquired animal specimens. Researchers there find the Dermestid beetles do a much better job than chemicals, usually producing a flesh-free skeleton in record time (depending on the size of the animal). Ironically, these very same beetles are the scourge of taxidermists because they will eat fully mounted specimens just as readily as newly dead ones. They will also frequently eat mounted insect specimens if they can get into the display cases. Consequently these beetles are employed in a sealed and locked room to prevent any escapees.

The Dermestid beetles of which there are between 500 and 700 species, are members of the Coleoptera order and can range in size from 1 to 12 mm. They are also known as skin beetles, larder beetles, hide or leather beetles and carpet beetles. While they can be very destructive to household items, fortunately they are not very widespread. Simple housekeeping practices will prevent problems.

The Dermestid is also useful to forensic entomologists in determining times of death of victims of crimes or accidents as their growth patterns follow a predictable timetable. So if you have a body with 3rd instar larvae on it, you are able to determine how many days previous death may have occurred. Toxicologists also can test the beetles and their larval sheddings for traces of poison as chemicals can show up in the beetles after they have eaten. .

For those of you who may be interested in starting a taxidermy sideline, I have checked the internet and found that Dermestid beetles are available at $25 for 250!