A wolf skull can look pristine on display, but the “clean” part was probably not done by chemicals, and it might not have been done gently. For decades, museums have leaned on dermestid beetles to strip flesh from bones, using colonies that can reach tricky nooks while avoiding the harsher chemical routes. The tradeoff is that running those colonies is a hassle, and the stakes get real if beetles escape. Eggs or larvae introduced into museum collections can become a serious pest and damage valuable specimens.

Now, researchers say they found a cleaner crew that can work fast and stay controllable: large beetle larvae sold as pet food, called superworms (Zophobas morio). In a study published July 1 in the journal PLOS One, Niloofar Alaei Kakhki, a postdoctoral researcher at the State Museum of Natural History Stuttgart in Germany, and Morteza Monfared, a researcher at the Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran, report that superworms removed soft tissue from animals ranging from tiny bats to a 9-pound (4.2 kilograms) wolf without damaging even the most delicate bones. And, crucially, they can do it while lowering the accidental-adult-beetle risk that haunts dermestid-based workflows.

So what makes superworms different from the dermestid beetles museum teams already know? It starts with their life cycle. Most beetle larvae pupate automatically once they reach the right size. Superworms do not. They need an additional trigger: they must be isolated individually before they will pupate and develop into adult beetles. As long as they remain together in crowded conditions, they stay in the larval stage for several months. That sounds like an insect trivia fact, but it is exactly what makes the method operationally attractive. If your goal is repeated skeleton preparation cycles, you want larvae to remain larvae. With superworms, that can be engineered through how the colony is housed, rather than relying on timing and chance.

That controllability also changes the risk profile for museums. The authors explain that adult dermestid beetles can reproduce, and females may lay eggs on or even inside skeletal specimens. If eggs or larvae slip into museum collections, they can multiply and damage valuable exhibits. Superworms do not develop into adults unless they are intentionally isolated. In other words, the “reproduction lever” is placed under the control of the preparator, not triggered by the colony reaching a size threshold. For institutions that care about long-term collections integrity, this is not a cosmetic improvement. It is the difference between “manage a colony” and “manage a colony plus accidental future generations.”

How did they even get here? Kakhki and Monfared started with a surprisingly practical setup. Several years ago, they kept a colony of Zophobas morio larvae as live food for birds. They were often asked to help care for injured wild birds, so maintaining a colony of feed made day-to-day logistics easier than repeatedly purchasing larvae. They fed the larvae mainly with vegetable scraps such as cucumber, potato, and banana peels. Then they ran out of vegetable waste and, after lunch, they placed a leftover chicken bone with a small amount of meat attached into the colony.

To their surprise, the larvae gathered around it almost immediately and removed the remaining tissue with remarkable speed. Watching hundreds of larvae work together efficiently sparked the bigger question: could this be more than animal feed? At the same time, they were volunteering at the Zoology Museum of Ferdowsi University (ZMFUM), where preparing skeletal specimens was part of their responsibilities. They already had experience with conventional methods, including manual cleaning, boiling, and burial. Those approaches can work, but they are often time-consuming and come with risks of damaging delicate bones or losing small skeletal elements. Once they observed how quickly the larvae could clean a bone, they tested whether those same behaviors could prepare real specimens. The first trials were “remarkably successful,” with soft tissues removed within only a few hours while leaving delicate bones intact. They continued refining and optimizing, and those observations became the standardized skeleton preparation method presented in their study.

When you put this next to chemical cleaners, the authors frame superworms as offering several advantages rooted in control, time, and specimen protection. Compared with dermestid beetles, colony management is a major advantage because pupation depends on isolating individuals. As long as superworms are kept together, they remain in the larval stage and continue cleaning specimens. That reduces the risk of accidentally introducing adult beetles or eggs into museum collections, which is described as a major concern with dermestid beetles.

Compared with traditional methods like boiling, manual cleaning, or burial, superworms can save significant time and effort. Manual cleaning, especially for delicate specimens, can take many hours and always carries the risk of breaking or losing small bones. In contrast, the larvae remove soft tissues efficiently while preserving fragile skeletal elements. The authors are careful not to overclaim that this replaces everything. They argue every method has strengths and limitations, and the best choice depends on the specimen type and research goals. But they position superworms as an efficient, safe, and practical alternative that museums, universities, and research laboratories can adopt and adapt.

What about money? There is no neat single number to drop into a budget spreadsheet, at least not from this study’s authors. Kakhki and Monfared say it is difficult to estimate an average cost because prices vary considerably between countries and suppliers. Instead of focusing on the initial purchase price, they point to long-term maintenance cost as the attraction. A colony can be established from a relatively small number of superworms. Once larvae reach the appropriate stage, part of the group can be isolated to pupate and develop into adult beetles. Those adults reproduce and generate new larvae, allowing the colony to become self-sustaining over time. Equipment needs are also described as simple, with the setup maintained in plastic or glass containers, though the source text cuts off mid-sentence on container details.

For decision-makers, the strategic stake is straightforward. Museums and labs need faster turnaround, safer handling of delicate specimens, and fewer collection-threatening failures. Dermestid colonies are proven, but they come with operational friction and a pest-control burden that can feel unpredictable when life cycles and eggs are involved. Superworms change that equation by making adult development conditional on individual isolation, while still delivering rapid tissue removal that works from tiny bats up through a 9-pound wolf. If institutions can standardize a method that is both repeatable and lower-risk, they may be able to rethink how they allocate staff time, storage risks, and specimen handling protocols. In short, this is not just a new cleaning trick. It is a potential shift in the underlying operating model for how biological collections stay pristine.