Auburn University

Dermestid Beetle Colony at AU

The dermestid beetle colony at Auburn is used to prepare specimens for skeletal preparations. The demestids are tiny beetles which eat flesh from dead animals. We use them to strip away any remaining flesh from a carcass before it is used for research or teaching.      Housed in Auburn's Museum of Natural History, the beetles play an important part in research here at Auburn, with people from Biology, Wildlife, and Fisheries using the colony to aid in many different projects.  Each semester, volunteers help maintain the colony and monitor the progress made on each specimen. Tyler Mosley and I built a new beetle colony almost 2 years ago and need a second one to keep pace with the demand for specimens. We welcome any materials or donations to help our work.     Recently I have completed specimens from the Tenessee Aquarium (Blue catfish), Peru (pacu), Venezuelan loricariid catfish, and rattlesnakes (from researchers at Auburn University).     Below are some pictures of our beetles and their handy work, with more to come.                                                                 New Beetle Colony Box with our new ventilation system.                                                                                   Coyote skull in progress.                                  Adult beetle.                                       Finished catfish skeleton.                                 Pacu from Peru.