Behind a Museum Door, These Beetles Are Eating Flesh for Science
Deep within the American Museum of Natural History, a unique team of dermestid beetles is responsible for cleaning animal skeletons by feasting on their flesh, which is a task too delicate for human hands. These beetles, housed in stainless steel-lined boxes, effectively remove tissue from small animal remains, leaving behind clean bones for scientific research and display. The beetles, small enough to access tight spaces, have processed a vast number of specimens, including over 30,000 bird skeletons, throughout their decades-long tenure at the museum. Despite their utility, precautions are taken to prevent them from escaping and infesting the museum's collections, including containment measures like Vaseline barriers and sticky floors. The ongoing maintenance of the beetle colony is crucial to the museum’s operations, with emergency food supplies like chicken and pigs' feet kept on hand to ensure the beetles remain productive and satisfied.
Context:
Deep within the American Museum of Natural History, a unique team of dermestid beetles is responsible for cleaning animal skeletons by feasting on their flesh, which is a task too delicate for human hands. These beetles, housed in stainless steel-lined boxes, effectively remove tissue from small animal remains, leaving behind clean bones for scientific research and display. The beetles, small enough to access tight spaces, have processed a vast number of specimens, including over 30,000 bird skeletons, throughout their decades-long tenure at the museum. Despite their utility, precautions are taken to prevent them from escaping and infesting the museum's collections, including containment measures like Vaseline barriers and sticky floors. The ongoing maintenance of the beetle colony is crucial to the museum’s operations, with emergency food supplies like chicken and pigs' feet kept on hand to ensure the beetles remain productive and satisfied.
Dive Deeper:
The American Museum of Natural History employs thousands of dermestid beetles to clean animal skeletons by consuming the flesh, a process too fine for human specialists. This method is gentler than traditional methods like boiling or chemical baths, allowing for the preservation of delicate skeletal structures.
These beetles are housed in specialized boxes and are capable of stripping flesh from the bones of even the smallest animals without damaging the bones themselves. The sound of the beetles gnawing is likened to frying food or the popping of Rice Krispies in milk.
The colony of beetles has been self-sustaining since the 1930s, having been originally brought from Africa. Despite their short lifespan of about six months, the beetles continue to thrive and are crucial to the museum's ongoing operations, especially during the pandemic when staff maintained backup colonies.
Specimens such as flamingos, snowy owls, and even a Cuban crocodile named Fidel have been processed by the beetles, with larger specimens requiring piecemeal treatment due to the size constraints of the beetle boxes.
Preventative measures are in place to avoid infestations, including soaking and freezing skeletons post-processing to kill any remaining beetles or eggs. Additionally, barriers like Vaseline and sticky floor sections are used to keep the beetles contained.
In the event of a shortage of specimens, alternative food sources such as chicken or pigs' feet are provided to the beetles to ensure they remain fed and do not attempt to escape in search of food.
The presence of the beetle colony highlights that significant scientific work can occur in environments that are not always pristine or sterile, as evidenced by the handwritten note warning of bad odors emanating from the Bug Colony room.