[Nhcoll-l] dermestid colony slowing down

[Nick Cairns]

Hi all,
Leslie, Thomas, Scott and Elizabeth, thank you all very much for your
insights! This is extremely helpful to have a checklist of potential
issues. We share the colony with the avian team but they are on vacation so
we won't know if a particularly greasy bird was added until the end of the
week.  I'm leaning towards an aging colony and extremely variable
conditions lately. Sean (cc'd) has split them up and added a bit more
humidity and there seem to have been some improvements. I'll follow up if
there are any major changes.
Following up on Thomas' post script, should anyone find themselves in
Edmonton please drop by, I'm new to this role and would love to talk shop
with folks. I've got lots to learn and we have a pretty cool collection.
Best,
Nick

Any elements I missed? It would make an interesting children's book!

*Conditions*
Tissue too dry?
Tissue too wet?
Tissue rotten?
Tissue greasy?
Taxa not liked ? Birds or a shrew (that is an interesting observation)
Add "jerky"?

*Life history*
Locations for pupae to develop?
Enough greasy tissue for 1st instarts?
Old colony, inbreeding?

*Contamination*
Frass build up and rotting?
Mites?
Spiders or other predators?

Fungus or mold?

Remains or animal treated?

Native dermestids?



On Fri, Jul 21, 2023 at 4:40 PM Elizabeth Wommack <ewommack at uwyo.edu> wrote:

> 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
> ewommack@ <ewommack at berkeley.edu>uwyo.edu
> pronouns: she, her, herself
> www.uwymv.org
> UWYMV Collection Use Policy
> <https://drive.google.com/file/d/1zH0_rDHQmerM4ZU7k2wu8UmRha6aC1Yo/view?usp=share_link>
>
> ------------------------------
> *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
>
>
> ◆ This message was sent from a non-UWYO address. Please exercise caution
> when clicking links or opening attachments from external sources.
>
> 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> 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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