[Nhcoll-l] Killing dermestids from large cervid skulls

[Mullon, Madeleine]

Hi Katrina,

If you are planning to degrease these skulls after the beetles are through with them, putting them straight into the degreasing solution (at the MCZ, we use an ammonia solution, but a surfactant degreaser such as dish soap should also work) will also kill any straggler bugs. That said, this is obviously not a solution if the skulls are so large that you are not planning to put them through a degrease/whitening soak, in which case I'd go with what others have suggested.

Best,

Madeleine Mullon (she/they)
Curatorial Assistant, Mammalogy
Museum of Comparative Zoology
Harvard University
617-495-2469
[https://huctw.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/huctw_email_sig_2012_white.jpg?download=1]


From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Derieg, Katrina
Sent: Friday, August 1, 2025 12:08 PM
To: nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: [Nhcoll-l] Killing dermestids from large cervid skulls

Hi folks,
I'm looking for some advice on how to proceed with some large cervid skulls I've got in my bug colony. One is a bull elk with a full rack, the other is a mule deer buck, also with a full rack. I don't have a walk-in freezer and none of my freezers are large enough for these skulls with their racks. The skulls are clean and I need to move them out of the bug colony, but I'm not sure the best way to get rid of any stray bugs.

Options I've considered:

  *   Bagging them up with some dry ice (will sublimate fast though, a little pricy)

  *   Bagging them up with isoflurane-soaked cotton (maybe not a good use of veterinary-grade drugs)

But I am open to suggestions if anyone has dealt with something similar.

Many thanks in advance!
-Katrina


KATRINA DERIEG (she/her)

Curator | Museum Collections and Outreach Coordinator

Phillip L. Wright Zoological Museum (UMZM)

Health Science 104  |   32 Campus Drive   |   406-243-4743

katrina.derieg at umontana.edu<mailto:katrina.derieg at umontana.edu> | umzm at mso.umt.edu<mailto:umzm at mso.umt.edu>

University of Montana

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mailman.yale.edu/pipermail/nhcoll-l/attachments/20250804/5bf357c9/attachment.html>