[Nhcoll-l] Killing dermestids from large cervid skulls

[Jacqueline Miller]

Adding to Madelaine's suggestion; at ROM we use Crystal Simple Green as a degreasing agent, it also whitens, depending on concentration and length of immersion.

Best, Jacqui

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Jacqueline Miller, PhD (She/Her/Hers)
Collections Technician 2  -  DNH

100 Queen's Park
Toronto, ON M5S 2C6
416 586 5769

ROM acknowledges that this museum sits on the ancestral lands of the Wendat, the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, and the Anishinaabek Nation, which includes the Mississaugas of the Credit First Nation, since time immemorial to today.

Le ROM reconnaît que le Musée est situé sur les terres ancestrales des Wendats, de la Confédération des Haudenosaunee et de la Nation Anishinabek, y compris la Première Nation des Mississaugas de Credit, et qu'ils occupent ces terres depuis la nuit des temps.


From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu> On Behalf Of Mullon, Madeleine
Sent: August 4, 2025 9:33 AM
To: Derieg, Katrina <katrina.derieg at mso.umt.edu>; nhcoll-l at mailman.yale.edu
Subject: Re: [Nhcoll-l] Killing dermestids from large cervid skulls

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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
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From: Nhcoll-l <nhcoll-l-bounces at mailman.yale.edu<mailto: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<mailto: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


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