Care and Maintenance of a
Dermestid Beetle Colony
The Basics:
Dermestes maculatus, the Dermestid beetle, is a flesh-eating scavenger found nearly everywhere in the world. These small, dull black beetles and their hairy larvae can be found in nature feasting on the dried or decomposing remains of animals. Because of their ability to clean flesh from even the most delicate of bones, colonies are often kept by museums, forensic scientists and taxidermists, where these small creatures are enlisted as helpers in skeletal preparation.
The life span of a Dermestid beetle is around four to five months. Adult beetles lay their eggs on or near a food source, and incredibly tiny larvae will emerge from the eggs about four days later. The larvae are the most voracious flesh eaters in a colony, and grow through seven to nine instars over the course of about a month and a half. With each new life stage, the larvae must shed their exoskeleton; new keepers of colonies will often worry about finding a lot of "dead" larvae that are in fact just the shed exoskeletons of maturing insects.
The larvae will then burrow into some available material – they seem to enjoy styrofoam, but will bore into meat, corrugated cardboard, or their own bedding – and emerge as beetles a week later. After a month, the female beetles (which are slightly larger than the males) will begin laying eggs, completing their life cycle.
The life span of a Dermestid beetle is around four to five months. Adult beetles lay their eggs on or near a food source, and incredibly tiny larvae will emerge from the eggs about four days later. The larvae are the most voracious flesh eaters in a colony, and grow through seven to nine instars over the course of about a month and a half. With each new life stage, the larvae must shed their exoskeleton; new keepers of colonies will often worry about finding a lot of "dead" larvae that are in fact just the shed exoskeletons of maturing insects.
The larvae will then burrow into some available material – they seem to enjoy styrofoam, but will bore into meat, corrugated cardboard, or their own bedding – and emerge as beetles a week later. After a month, the female beetles (which are slightly larger than the males) will begin laying eggs, completing their life cycle.
With the right care and conditions, a Dermestid colony can multiply quite quickly, and the more the merrier as far as skeletal preparation is concerned!
Obtaining a Colony:
Although Dermestid beetles are a naturally occurring species, the best way to start keeping them is to buy a small starter colony from someone who has a healthy, large colony of their own. It is entirely possible to gather and breed wild Dermestids; however, you are taking the risk of accidentally bringing in beetle pests like mites or other insects/diseases that may wind up wiping out your contained colony entirely. Never introduce wild Dermestids (or any other insects) to an existing healthy colony for exactly these reasons.
I recommend Kodiak Bones & Bugs in Alaska as a trusted source of healthy starter colonies. You can also look on taxidermy forums or live insect keeping forums for people who have starter colonies available or can recommend places to look.
Beetle Housing:
Dermestid beetles are simple creatures, and quite easy to please. The main goal in housing a colony is to keep the beetles contained, while allowing ample ventilation and enough space for your specimens to fit. Keeping your beetles where they belong is incredibly important. Escaped beetles have the potential to become pests that can eat your books, taxidermy mounts, carpets, and generally make a pain of themselves. With how quickly they reproduce, this is not a chance you want to take.
Glass aquariums and hard plastic storage containers can make good Dermestid housing, as they cannot climb the slick sides to get out. Note that Dermestids have been known to eat through Rubbermaid tubs, but the Sterlite brand seems to work perfectly. Make sure that you have a tight fitting lid, because at high temperatures, beetles are capable of flying; you want to keep the beetles in and other bugs out, while allowing plenty of ventilation and airflow. Cutting holes in sides of plastic tubs and covering them with fine screen is ideal. Screening the tops of lids seems like the obvious choice, but flies of all sizes will sit on top of the screen and lay eggs that can fall through remarkably small holes and infiltrate your colony. Broken chest freezers also make excellent housing for larger colonies, provided they have adequate ventilation. Beetles work best in the dark, so covering clear glass or plastic enclosures is a good idea.
As you can probably imagine, your beetle area will smell! While you can take steps to reduce the smell coming from your colony, you are basically keeping slightly warm rotting flesh around, and there's no way of avoiding a certain amount of stink. Keeping your colony outdoors is not ideal, as you risk too much temperature fluctuation and the potential for scavengers and insect pests to break into your colony. Beetle colonies are best kept in sheds, workshops, barns, or other areas with good ventilation and not much foot traffic. On the bright side, they don't smell nearly as bad as maceration, the alternative method for getting impeccably clean bones!
Bedding Materials:
An inch or two of bedding should be provided for a beetle colony. This can be shredded paper, cut up cardboard, wood shavings (except cedar, which contains a natural insecticide), or, my personal preference, Carefresh animal bedding, available at any pet store. If you are using corrugated cardboard, I recommend freezing it for at least 72 hours before putting it in your colony to ensure that any insects hiding in the corrugated gaps are killed.
Odd as it sounds, styrofoam is your beetles' best friend. Add a large chunk of styrofoam to your colony, and you will see them quickly burrow their way in to pupate. While they will pupate in other materials, this seems to be their favorite. Over time, the styrofoam will hollow out completely and be reduced to small shredded bits that mix with their bedding.
The beetles will add to the bedding layer with their own frass, a powdery waste material, and chewed up bits of bedding materials and styrofoam. Allowing the bedding and frass mix to build up is good for the beetles – it gives them insulation from both overly warm and cold temperatures, as well a place to burrow and nest. When the beetles aren't eating, you'll find them buried in their bedding. Keep an eye on the bedding/frass layer, stir it occasionally, and make sure that it stays loose and dry. Too much moisture can lead to mold or promote mites, a potentially toxic situation for your colony. If you do need to remove some bedding or frass, it’s safe to assume that eggs and small larvae are stowing away in it no matter how carefully you check, so it’s a good idea to store it in the freezer until trash day to prevent runaway beetles.
Food & Water:
As you can probably guess, Dermestid beetles are 100% carnivorous. They survive on meat, and, while the beetles can go long periods without food, if you want to increase your colony size, you should have food freely available to them. You can give them freezer burned meat scraps or hot dogs when you don't have a specimen for them to clean.
As you can probably guess, Dermestid beetles are 100% carnivorous. They survive on meat, and, while the beetles can go long periods without food, if you want to increase your colony size, you should have food freely available to them. You can give them freezer burned meat scraps or hot dogs when you don't have a specimen for them to clean.
The most important thing to remember when feeding your colony is to avoid any possibility of introducing other insects or eggs. If there is even a small chance that what you're going to feed your colony has had a fly land on it and lay eggs, put it in the freezer for at least 72 hours to ensure that they are dead. Then defrost the meat in a sealed container and give it straight to your colony.
The most common Dermestid keeping advice is to only give your beetles dried meat. This is what they typically eat in the wild, and preventing excess moisture in your colony is good practice for avoiding mold or damp situations that promote mites. However, I have found that my beetle colony eagerly accepts fresh and moist meat, and in fact seems to prefer it. If you would like to dry specimens prior to feeding your colony, you can set up a screened area with a fan, or set the specimen on a shelf in the freezer for a week or so.
Ideally, avoid giving your colony large pieces of meat that they can't finish in several days. This will help prevent excessive rotting, mold and moisture. Any bone specimens the beetles are to clean should be skinned and have as much tissue as possible (including eyes and brains) removed prior to being put in with the beetles.
Every so often, when I'm not in a hurry, I will leave some brain in a skull for the beetles to eat. It's a feeding and egg laying frenzy every time! Brains seem to be their favorite food, and are a great way to motivate them to increase their population. Feeding small skulls (birds, rodents, etc.) with brains left in is a great way to increase the population of smaller colonies. Just be aware that the smell of rotting brain is a special kind of awful, so try not to give them more than they can finish quickly.
Beetles don't need much in the way of water. A folded up paper towel dampened weekly is enough to keep them going. Thirsty beetles and larvae will flock to the paper towel and have their fill. Remember that moisture in the bedding is bad, so the towels should be moist enough for them to drink, but not so wet that they don't dry within a few hours.
Temperature:
The temperature of your colony is incredibly important. The beetles work most efficiently at around 75-80 degrees Fahrenheit. While lower temperatures won't necessarily kill your colony, you will notice that they move much slower. Any warmer than 80ºF, and your beetles are capable of flight. No one wants to open a colony of flying Dermestids.
The beetles conveniently thrive right around room temperature, and often all that is needed is some insulation around their enclosure and a reptile heating pad underneath in cooler weather. If that's not enough to keep your beetles in the proper temperature range, a heat lamp can be used. However, beetles do their best work in the dark, so this is less desirable.
Removal of Specimens:
When the beetles have finished cleaning the flesh from a skeletal specimen, it's time to remove it from the colony. When you do, you'll notice beetles and larvae hiding in every crack and crevice. My method for saving as many beetles as possible is to gently shake the skull and tap it against the side of the enclosure to loosen and fling out as many as I can. Holding a bright light up to the bone can help motivate them to emerge seeking darker pastures.
No matter how sure you are that you've removed all Dermestids from a specimen, don't take any chances. You can kill any stowaways by immersing the bones immediately in hot water or putting it in the freezer for at least 72 hours. If you will be degreasing the bones, putting them directly into your degreasing bath should be enough to kill any remaining beetles.
Good luck! :)
With proper care, your Dermestid colony will be ready to take on large projects like bear and deer skulls before you know it. These fascinating little creatures are a wonderful tool for anyone who regularly finds themselves with bones to clean. Their ability to clean soft tissue from even the tiniest and most delicate of bones will have give you excellent results that few other cleaning methods can equal.
Courtesy of a local shop owner:
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Owner: Carla Brauer
503.560.9121 – Email: carla@dermestidarium.com
{You can find the link to her website in my recommended sellers list!}
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