On Thu, 21 Dec 1995, Anne Douglas wrote:

> Speaking as someone who has worked exclusively in art museums, could
> someone please explain *why* such a colony would be established in the
> first place?  Thanks and Merry Christmas!
>
Anne:

For many of us who work with animal bones, a dermestid colony is a very
useful thing.  These nasty little critters are used primarily to deflesh
dead animals and reduce them to their barest bones, which they do with
admirable speed and efficiency.  The bones are then used in various forms
of research such as comparative anatomy and, in my case, zooarchaeology.
The problem with dermestid colonies, as has been made clear in this
thread, is that they are often difficult to control and keep confined to
one place.  If accidentally released into the general museum environment,
they can cause enormous damage to all things organic.  For this reason,
some institutions don't want dermestid colonies anywhere on their
premises.