Dermestes maculatus (De Geer, 1774)

Hide beetle

The forensic scientist's beetle, it arrives at carrion on a predictable schedule, and museums fear its appetite for specimens.

Order: Coleoptera
Family: Dermestidae
Group: Fabric & structural beetles
Ontario status: Established, in Ontario mainly around animal remains, tanneries, and museums; occasional homes

Why it matters

A pest of tanneries, museums, and taxidermy, and a forensic indicator species. In homes it usually means a dead animal in a void or chimney.

Origin

Worldwide with the hide and leather trade, maculatus means 'spotted.'

Behavior

Adults and larvae feed on dried protein. In forensic science, its arrival time at remains helps estimate time since death, it colonizes late, when tissue is drying.

Living conditions

Dried animal matter: hides, leather, carrion, pet food, dead animals in chimneys or voids. The last large beetle to arrive at a carcass.

Signs of presence

Dark beetles (7-10 mm) without the larder beetle's pale band, near animal remains or leather goods
Hairy larvae in dried carcasses or hide storage

Weaknesses

Needs dried animal protein, absent from clean homes
Slow to colonize; thorough carcass/remains removal prevents buildup
Killed by freezing

Myths and facts

Myth It's just a big larder beetle.
Reality Different species with different habits, the hide beetle prefers dried carrion and is the forensically important one.

Research notes

Morphology

Adult 7-10 mm, dark brown-black, no pale elytral band. Underside of the abdominal tip bears white hairs (vs. dark in some congeners); males have a pit and spine on the elytral apices. Larva hairy, up to ~12 mm.

Diagnostics

No elytral band + white ventral abdominal hairs + large size = hide beetle. Male elytral spines confirm.

Easily confused with

Larder beetle, Dermestes lardarius Larder beetle has the pale yellow elytral band; hide beetle is uniformly dark with white hairs beneath the abdomen tip.

Life cycle

Adult: Several months
Egg: Laid on dried protein; ~1 week to hatch
Egg to adult: 2-4 months
Generations per year: 2-3
Nymph or larva: Feed 1-3 months depending on food quality

Development

Complete metamorphosis; larvae bore pupal chambers like other Dermestes.

Reproduction

~200 eggs per female on carrion or hides.

Distribution

Global: Cosmopolitan
Native range: Cosmopolitan with trade (exact origin uncertain)
Ontario: Established; tanneries, museums, rural properties

Ecology

Late-succession carrion colonizer, arrives as tissue dries; this predictability underpins its forensic use. Also a pest of museum mammal and insect collections.

Resistance

Unknown, no documented resistance.

IPM implications

In buildings, the beetle is a symptom: locate and remove the animal remains (chimney, wall void, attic) and the population has no future. In museums, quarantine and freezing protocols for incoming specimens.

Chemical ecology

Carrion volatile cues; cuticular chemistry studied in forensic contexts.

Genetics and DNA

No reference genome published as of 2026.

Taxonomy

Order Coleoptera, family Dermestidae. Described by Charles De Geer in 1774.

Open questions

Refining post-mortem interval estimates from succession data in northern climates.

References

Hinton, H.E. (1945). A Monograph of the Beetles Associated with Stored Products, Vol. 1. British Museum (Natural History).