Skin Beetle
Dermestes caninus
Photo taken 28 July 2012 at Mesquite Wash, Maricopa Co., Arizona. The beetle is 7 mm in length and was within a dry carcass of a turkey vulture.
When an animal has been dead for a long time and has nearly lost the aroma of
putrification it becomes a food source for adults and larvae of skin beetles.
In the Sonoran Desert, hot and dry summer weather often dries out a cadaver
very quickly. This skin beetle species (there are several) is found throughout
much of North America. As the name implies, they feed on the dry skin and hair
that is left after other scavengers have removed the flesh. Museums sometimes
use these beetles to clean skeletons of specimens.
Dermestidae -- Carpet, Skin and Larder Beetle Family
