Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Dermestids are our friend and our foe.



This week brings us an attractive looking insect that is both helpful and hurtful- a dermestid beetle! Beetles in this family (Dermestidae) typically feed on dry, dead things, although they also will eat freshly dead things when possible. This particular species, the varied carpet beetle (Anthrenus verbasci) feeds on skin and hair and thus can be destructive to museum specimens. This specimen was found eating its way through the collection of a local bird wing collector!

Other species of dermestid beetles (Dermestes americanus) are of great use to museums because they perform the odoriferous and unenviable task of cleaning decaying flesh from skeletons.

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