I am starting to collect beetles for cleaning skulls. The beetles that I did collect are not the same type. There are some short ones with a tint of orange on there back and there are some long ones. Do I need to separate them. If so how do I know witch ones to keep?
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I couldn't hold myself back on that one, Rodeo! Sounds like you are
picking up carrion beetles.
Type in dermestedes or dermestedis in the search section here, and if
that doesn't give you enough info, try it as a Google search.
Dermestedes are black with a green sign. I don't know what the green
sign means though.
The standard dermestid utilized by museums, biological supply houses, and skull preparation operations is Dermestes maculatus, which could also be typed into google, but I would start with a search of this site first. D. macualtus is solid black on top with white or silvery color on the ventral surface. Recently hatched pupae start as dark brown but within a day has the black color.
Depending on what state you live in you may not be able to catch wild D. maculatus and have to settle for D. lardarius, or others - or purchase a starter colony from one of the suppliers.
missed the sssssssssssssssssssssssssssssss
That was a good one Glen and the one with the orange on it it a little slower . I have about 100 of them buggers now. Messy job and a little stinky to. I put them in fish tank with screen over it and watch them a little tonight and they are breading fulls. Thanks for the information all.