A dermestarium (pl. dermestaria) is a room, container, or
terrarium
A terrarium ( terraria or terrariums) is a glass container containing soil and plants in an environment different from the surroundings. It is usually a sealable container that can be opened for maintenance or to access the plants inside; howeve ...
where
taxidermists
Taxidermy is the art of preserving an animal's body by mounting (over an armature) or stuffing, for the purpose of display or study. Animals are often, but not always, portrayed in a lifelike state. The word ''taxidermy'' describes the process ...
let
invertebrate
Invertebrates are animals that neither develop nor retain a vertebral column (commonly known as a ''spine'' or ''backbone''), which evolved from the notochord. It is a paraphyletic grouping including all animals excluding the chordata, chordate s ...
s - typically beetle larvae - remove (eat) flesh and other soft parts from animal carcasses or parts of animal carcasses, such as skulls. The purpose is to expose and clean individual bones or entire skeletons for study and preservation. The word dermestarium derives from ''
Dermestes
''Dermestes'' is a genus of beetles in the family Dermestidae, the skin beetles. The genus is distributed worldwide.Magni, P. A., et al. (2015)A biological and procedural review of forensically significant ''Dermestes'' species (Coleoptera: Derm ...
'', the genus name of the beetle most commonly used for the task. Other invertebrates, notably
isopods
Isopoda is an Order (biology), order of crustaceans. Members of this group are called isopods and include both Aquatic animal, aquatic species and Terrestrial animal, terrestrial species such as woodlice. All have rigid, segmented exoskeletons ...
and
clothes moth
Clothes moth or clothing moth is the common name for several species of moth considered to be pests, whose larvae eat animal fibres (hairs), including clothing and other fabrics.
These include:
* ''Tineola bisselliella'', the common clothes mot ...
s, have also been used.
Dermestaria are used by museums and other research institutions. Dermestaria are sometimes located in separate, bespoke buildings, as is the case at the
University of Wisconsin-Madison
A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Uni ...
's zoological museum. Other dermestaria are of the container or terrarium type and can be kept inside regular research and museum facilities. The use of dermestaria in the USA goes back to at least the 1940s.
Prior to dermestarium deposition, the animal carcass is skinned, and excess flesh and other soft parts are removed to minimize the dermestarium time needed. The carcass is left to dry somewhat, since ''Dermestes'' larvae prefer dry over moist meat. The carcass is then put on a tray and placed inside the dermestarium, which has been prepared with a colony of ''Dermestes'' larvae. The dermestarium time needed for the larvae to strip the bones clean of flesh and soft parts ranges from a few days for small animals to several years for very large animals;
once the bones have been stripped clean of all soft parts, the tray with the carcass is removed and placed in a freezer for a period sufficient to kill off any larvae and adult beetles that happened to tag along.
References
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Biology