<div dir="auto"><div>Yes, this is of interest. We have found mealworms to be very effective for cleaning osteological materials as an alternative to dermestid beetles. They seem to be fairly hardy and the bones come out very clean without ancillary damage. However I cannot say how this compares to dermestid beetles in terms of length of time to clean the specimens, space required, and overall effectiveness as we have never had a beetle colony.</div><div dir="auto"><br></div><div dir="auto">Emily Smith, Collections Coordinator</div><div dir="auto">Randolph College Natural History and Archaeology Collections Project</div><div dir="auto"><a href="mailto:esmith@randolphcollege.edu">esmith@randolphcollege.edu</a></div><div dir="auto"><div class="gmail_extra" dir="auto"><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Nov 15, 2017 6:26 PM, "Casey Tucker" <<a href="mailto:tuckercasey@hotmail.com">tuckercasey@hotmail.com</a>> wrote:<br type="attribution"><blockquote class="quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
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<p>Hi Folks,</p>
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<p>I'm passing this along for those that might be interested. As a disclaimer I have no part in this project or am I in anyway affiliated with it or its members.</p>
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<p>It's a project conducted by Junior High and High School students in Mexico that might have implications for natural history museum prep staff and collection managers.</p>
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<p><span>Maceration of Skull Tissue by Mealworms</span><br>
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<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__experiment.com_projects_maceration-2Dof-2Dskull-2Dtissue-2Dby-2Dmealworms&d=DwMFAw&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=abH7mQMxjVSGDdKJkppSfflbLjd9bymvENmMqFc7zFg&s=bFw8XI57Fbyj1qdiffLz15DPeu3WMc4IBXxY5mQ5PMQ&e=" class="m_-4103560422802317658OWAAutoLink" id="m_-4103560422802317658LPlnk68909" target="_blank">https://experiment.com/<wbr>projects/maceration-of-skull-<wbr>tissue-by-mealworms</a></p>
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<div>About This Project</div>
<div>Could Mealworms be used as an alternative to dermestid beetles for skeleton preparation? In museums, dermestid beetles can cause infestation problems and destruction of valuable collections if let loose. Through this experiment, we would like to find a
way to reduce the chances of museum infestations and give amateur osteologists and hunters an easier way of processing animal materials to get clean skeletons.</div>
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<p><a href="https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=https-3A__experiment.com_projects_maceration-2Dof-2Dskull-2Dtissue-2Dby-2Dmealworms&d=DwMFAw&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=abH7mQMxjVSGDdKJkppSfflbLjd9bymvENmMqFc7zFg&s=bFw8XI57Fbyj1qdiffLz15DPeu3WMc4IBXxY5mQ5PMQ&e=" class="m_-4103560422802317658OWAAutoLink" target="_blank"></a></p>
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