Dermestid Beetles - Dual Purpose?

[DavidRS]

I've been thinking about starting a dermestid beetle colony to prepare animal bones. I know of a source: http://www.skulltaxidermy.com/kits.html

I'm curious if the beetles or larvae would make good T food? I know a couple of you have some experience with these beetles.

 

[Dark Raptor]

Sometimes I'm using small dermestid beetles (Attagenus spp, Anthrenus spp. and Dermestes spp.) and their larvae to feed my jumping spiders. Remember that they are really small. Most species belonging to genus Dermestes reach only 1 - 1,5 cm.

...and they really stink. I've been using D. carnivorus, D. lardarius i D. vulpinus to clean small skeletons (rodents and bats). That was a nice view, but nobody wanted to work with me in my lab ;P

 

[NiGHTS]

Yeah, they can be smelly...but that's because they like to eat smelly things. I would agree that they are too small to be a good food source for all but the smallest Ts. Another thing that's bad about these guys is that the adults are quite good fliers, so you need to house them with a very tight weave mesh cage cover. I would say that its better to get them for taxidermy purposes only. Mealworms make more interesting pets, really.

 

[Dark Raptor]

Yes, they are very good fliers... especially genus Anthrenus and Attagenus.
Some species have got good defence against spiders. I've also kept Trinodes hirtus, beetle living in spiders nets (espiecially Tegenaria spp.). They are scavengers and eat insects left by spiders. They are not attacked by their hosts because larvae and adult beetles have long hair. Spiders can't penetrate this barrier and live them alone.