Superworms Clean Museum Skeletons Faster, Safer Than Beetles

Museums around the world just got a powerful new cleaning crew, and they're about the size of your finger.

Scientists in Iran discovered that superworms, the hefty larvae of a lesser-known beetle species, excel at stripping flesh from animal skeletons used in research and education. The discovery solves a problem that's plagued natural history museums for decades.

Niloofar Alaei Kakhki, a bioinformatician who worked at a natural history museum in Mashhad, Iran, faced a common challenge. Donations of dead animals poured in faster than the museum could process them, and freezer space ran out quickly.

Traditional skeleton cleaning methods each come with serious drawbacks. Chemical treatments damage the environment and can weaken bones. Boiling takes forever. Dermestid beetles work fast but frequently escape and destroy valuable museum specimens by chewing through feathers and preserved skins.

Enter the superworm. These larvae sport large chewing mandibles and an appetite that rivals any hungry teenager. But unlike their dermestid cousins, they come with a built-in safety feature.

When kept together in groups, superworms stay in their larval stage indefinitely. They can't mature into beetles that might damage other museum collections. Even better, the same batch of larvae can be reused for six months.

Why This Inspires

The research team tested their theory on everything from tiny fish and mice to wolves and wild cats. The results amazed even the scientists themselves.

Just 10 to 15 superworms can clean a specimen completely, handling even the most delicate bones with surprising care. Fish ribs that are barely visible to the naked eye emerged perfectly intact after the larvae finished their work.

The breakthrough matters most for smaller institutions. Museums in developing countries often lack expensive equipment and specialized facilities. Superworms require minimal setup and maintenance, making professional-quality skeleton preparation accessible to everyone.

Damien Charabidze, a forensic entomologist at the University of Lille in France, notes the research adds valuable options to the toolkit. He suggests scientists monitor the superworms carefully since they naturally prefer vegetables over meat, which could make them pickier eaters on some specimens.

The study appeared in PLOS One this week after overcoming unusual obstacles. Three of the four Iranian authors lost email access during an internet blackout their government imposed during wartime. The journal worked with Alaei, who had relocated to Germany, to ensure the research reached the scientific community despite the challenges.

Museums worldwide can now choose the cleaning method that works best for their needs, budgets, and collections.