Secret life of the beetles, featuring a macaw, owl and pheasant, Natural History Museum

Watch a timelapse video showing the Museum s smallest workers, flesheating beetles, preparing the skeletons of a great green macaw, tawny owl and mountain peacockpheasant for our collections. Chemical preparation of skeletons can cause damage to the bones so a special beetle species, Dermestes haemarrhoidalis, is used to strip off the flesh while leaving the bones and collagen untouched. To see another specimen being prepared for our collections and to find out more about the process visit: ht