[Nhcoll-l] dermestid colony slowing down

[Elizabeth Wommack]

Hi Nick,

I've seen dermestids be "picky" with some colonies having preferences. I had one colony that didn't like birds as much as mammals or seen one that hated shrews. I keep a supply of dried jerky meat from larger preps that I'll stuff in with skeletons that are going slowly to try and encourage them to come back to one they have wandered away from.
Other things I'll do to ramp up one of our colonies is water/mist them more frequently (we're really dry here in WY so water is a limiting factor). And I'll move small larva from really active skeletons physically over to ones I want them to pay more attention too.

Good luck!

cheers,
Beth

Elizabeth Wommack, PhD
Curator and Collections Manager of Vertebrates
University of Wyoming Museum of Vertebrates
Berry Biodiversity Conservation Center
University of Wyoming,
Laramie, WY 82071
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> on behalf of Scott Swann <sswann at coa.edu>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2023 2:43 PM
To: Nick Cairns <nacairns at gmail.com>
Cc: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu <nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu>
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] dermestid colony slowing down


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I have had,I want to say two problems with dermestids but that is simplistic. The first is that someone introduced native dermestids to the colony which are not nearly as proactive flesh eating wise but are good at breeding. The solution was to let them die out and then start again with a lock on the door. I have also experienced an inbreeding problem if it is a long lived colony. the third problem was not well prepared specimens, my colleague introduced specimens that were too moist and it killed the colony. Let me know, curious

Scott Swann
Dorr Museum

On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 10:39 AM Nick Cairns <nacairns at gmail.com<mailto:nacairns at gmail.com>> wrote:
Morning everyone,
We're having an issue with our dermestid colony. Despite seemingly good temperature and humidity the colony is failing to process the modest amounts of material we are putting in with them. They've mostly been stripping bison mandibles for the last few months but seems to be consistently slowing down. We've tried warming them up and subdividing them but it's still slow.  Any advice or experience with this would be greatly appreciated.
Best,
Nick

Non-avian curator
Royal Alberta Museum
Edmonton Alberta, Canada
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