Dermestid beetles are a specialized species of beetle that eats only animal flesh. Dermestid beetles are the longstanding preferred method of preparing skulls, used by many museum and university collections around the world. Preparing skulls with Dermestid beetles has several advantages over other methods, such as boiling or composting.
The dermestid or carpet beetle belongs to the family Dermestidae. Dermestids feed on dry-moist animal material. There are many species of Dermestid beetles that are native to N. America and will invariably show up at a carcass. Domestic colonization of wild species has proven to be very difficult at best. The species most easily colonized is Dermestes maculatus. These beetles undergo complete metamorphosis; that is, egg, larval, pupal, and adult stages. The complete life cycle lasts about 45 days per generation. Adults (beetle looking), lay eggs which are too small to be seen with the naked eye. A few days later very small larvae hatch out which begin looking for their first meal. The larvae continue eating and molting 8 times before they reach about ¾ of an inch in length. This growing/molting period lasts about 30 days. It is the larvae that do the majority of the cleaning. The large larvae then find a quite spot and pupate. As they pupate their last outer larvae skin falls off leaving them somewhat yellow in appearance. 7 days later out comes an adult. Within a day or two the adult is laying 4-5 eggs a day and the whole process begins anew. The adults live for about 3 months
Dermestid beetles (its actually the larvae) remove flesh from the deepest recesses of the skull, without necessitating the use of tools, which can leave tool marks and damage delicate structures, such as nasal bones. (Many skull cleaning services actually completely destroy and remove these delicate nasal bones. We strongly believe these structures are an integral part of what makes a bear or deer what they are!)
Your trophy should have no unpleasant smell, because all traces of meat are removed, and no emulsified fats are impregnated into the bone. Cleaning with beetles does not allow bone structures or suture lines to be unnaturally weakened, or teeth loosened or subject to cracking. Boiling also has been shown to shrink skulls!
If you want a high quality trophy, consider having your trophy prepared by Dermestid beetles, and WATTS & SONS TAXIDERMY.