[Nhcoll-l] Flesh-eating dermestids

[Jeff Stephenson]

Hello Tonya,
We have decades of experience with the Hide Beetle, Dermestes maculatus, which is our flesh-eating beetle.  They do indeed relish muscle tissue when available, and that makes them an excellent choice for colonies of bone cleaners.  HOWEVER, they will also consume other sources of animal protein and will eat feathers, hair, horn sheaths, skin, insect bodies, etc. if they get out of their colonies.  Their inclination to eat muscle tissue is only that - this is not a guarantee they will stay away from your collections if they get a chance!  You still need to keep barriers (and as much space as possible) between your beetles and your collections.
Cheers,
Jeff

JEFF STEPHENSON
COLLECTIONS MANAGER, ZOOLOGY DEPARTMENT







[DMNS 2 Line RGB small.jpg]<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.dmns.org_&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=4A-qRK7YLrByb9AWxlchcD3Aq_IetCvTd0tZeRNNY5o&s=W5ZZrBINAz-riJ0HWDgTyF3fnCXD9FeFqjKojwCagT0&e=>

jeff.stephenson at dmns.org<mailto:jeff.stephenson at dmns.org>
W  303.370.8319
F   303.331.6492

2001 Colorado Blvd., Denver CO 80205

preserve,<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__community.dmns.org_content_OnlineCommunity.aspx&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=4A-qRK7YLrByb9AWxlchcD3Aq_IetCvTd0tZeRNNY5o&s=XDvkdTH7ABSpKloY8-KDpKrixNtuaWN_KdWGyLih1NI&e=> present, inspire, explore

www.dmns.org



The Denver Museum of Nature & Science salutes the citizens of metro Denver for helping fund arts, culture and science through their support of the Scientific and Cultural Facilities District (SCFD)<https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.scfd.org_&d=DwIFAg&c=cjytLXgP8ixuoHflwc-poQ&r=LpYc_Z_iN1KRw0hheb3x6-8MJUMu482qfHowpGYJqwc&m=4A-qRK7YLrByb9AWxlchcD3Aq_IetCvTd0tZeRNNY5o&s=aw5D11xwnroQKfBTEB_BuAXe775XP-qCPcESwcS7umA&e=>.

From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Tonya.Haff at csiro.au
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2018 10:03 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Flesh-eating dermestids

Hello all,

I have a question about keeping dermestids. I've always considered their colonies to be a risk to skin collections, as desmestid bettles are a major risk/pest of collections. However, an entomologist friend of mine recently pointed out that the flesh-eating dermestids are much larger and not interested in feathers, hair or skin, but that they specifically eat flesh, and that as such they shouldn't pose much of a risk). Do any of you have any thoughts or experience with this?

Thanks!

Cheers,

Tonya

---------------------------------------------------------
Dr Tonya Haff
Collections Manager
Australian National Wildlife Collection
National Research Collections Australia, CSIRO
Canberra, Australia
Phone: (+61) 02 62421566

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20180601/855586f3/attachment.html>
-------------- next part --------------
A non-text attachment was scrubbed...
Name: image001.jpg
Type: image/jpeg
Size: 2894 bytes
Desc: image001.jpg
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20180601/855586f3/attachment.jpg>