Hide beetle
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Description
A beetle, Dermestes maculatus, with a black back with a thin border of white hairs and a white abdomen with black spots. The hide beetle larvae eat bones, carcasses, Wool, Wood, Cork, and Insulation. The adult insects are about 9 to 10 millimeters long. They lay eggs that hatch in 2 to 4 days. The larvae have a black body with broad band in the center of its back. It grows in length to 12 mm. The larval stage lasts 35 to 238 days at which point a cocoon is formed. The adult hatches in 3 to 300 days and lives up to 3 months. The hide beetle is one of two species (the other is the Black larder beetle) formerly used to clean bones in museums.
Synonyms and Related Terms
skin beetle
Additional Information
º MuseumPests.net: Hide Beetle
Sources Checked for Data in Record
- Lynda A. Zycherman, J.Richard Schrock, A Guide to Museum Pest Control, FAIC and Association of Systematics Collections, Washington DC, 1988
- Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, at http://www.wikipedia.com Comment: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hide_beetle