Watch flesh-eating beetles strip this body down to the bone
Hope you're enjoying lunch! These flesh-eating beetles are sure enjoying theirs:
The above video -- the latest from "Deep Look," a series by PBS and KQED -- shows Dermestid Beetles doing what they do best.
As the video explains, these beetles are an essential tool for museums that store preserved animal specimens. You can count on flesh-eating insects to leave skeletal remains squeaky clean, but not damaged. They can pick a small animal clean in just a day.
The Museum of Vertebrate Zoology at the University of California at Berkeley, shown in the video, has kept a colony of beetles going since 1924. But they have to be careful not to let them loose: Flesh-eating beetles are great guys to know when you've got a bone to pick clean, but they'll also eat through your carefully crafted taxidermy if they get the chance.
They'll also eat paper or fabric in a pinch, which isn't so great. On the bright side, they don't care for living flesh.
What happens when the beetles aren't biting? According to Smithsonian Magazine, scientists will spritz a little ammonia on the carcass. Ammonia gas is formed as bodies decompose, so for the beetles it's a little bit like getting a sudden whiff of fresh, hot french fries.
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