Royal Saskatchewan Museum displays flesh-eating dermestid beetles cleaning owl skeleton for Halloween The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is showcasing a colony of dermestid beetles, also known as skin beetles, that clean skeletons for research and will be on display through Halloween. The Royal Saskatchewan Museum is displaying a colony of flesh-eating dermestid beetles, also known as skin beetles, that are cleaning an owl skeleton as part of a Halloween exhibit. The display runs through Halloween and offers visitors a rare behind-the-scenes look at how the museum prepares specimens. Danae Frier, the museum's manager of collections, said the beetles play a critical role in the museum's work. These are beetles that we use to clean skeletons, Frier told CTV News. Things that come into our research collections, skeletons are cleaned in the research collections, get cleaned by the beetles.Important Decomposers In The WorldThey are really important decomposers within the world. The beetles are part of a larger colony that numbers in the thousands. Hundreds of larvae and fully grown beetles are currently working on the owl skeleton, picking away leftover skin to fully clear the bones for Frier's research team. The insects specialize in dead flesh and pose no threat to living humans.Frier explained how the beetles fit into the natural decomposition process. Flesh-eating beetle definitely sounds a little bit alarming, she said. But fortunately, these beetles specialize on dead flesh. When something passes away, there is a series of decomposition that happens.Natural Decomposition Process ExplainedUsually flies will arrive first, when everything is kind of wet; once the carcass starts to dry out, that is when dermestid beetles will come in and start cleaning up the rest of the flesh. Despite their horror-movie reputation, the bigger concern for the museum is keeping the beetles contained. If they were to get loose in our galleries, or within our research collections behind the scenes, they could wreak havoc, Frier said.So we take lots of precautions to make sure that they do not get loose. The collections team would be unable to do much of the work the beetles do, making them a key piece to research and gallery setup. Frier said the beetles are especially helpful because bones can be very delicate, and a mouse skeleton or bird skeleton can be very small.Cleaning Delicate Bones IntactBecause these beetles are able to get into all the little crevices, they can clean those bones very well for us and keep everything very intact, which is great. Frier added that the research collections allow people to ask questions about the biology of different animals, and skeletons can be an important part of that. The public can see the dermestid beetles at work on the owl skeleton through Halloween at the Royal Saskatchewan Museum.These things can seem a little bit creepy and people might think it is kind of gross, Frier said. But from my perspective, it is a really interesting way to engage with some of these natural processes. So even if you think it might be a little bit gross; come in, have a look, and maybe you will learn something about our natural biology.