Hide beetles eat carrion. But the scent of decomposing flesh on its own isn't enough to attract young, virgin females of this species. The perfume must have another ingredient to get their attention: Male-beetle sex pheromones.
Hide beetles, known scientifically as Dermestes maculates, are part of the parade of insects that arrive to feast on a corpse. They also breed and lay their eggs in this graveyard of sorts. Different species have preferences for different states of decomposition. Because corpse-eating insects arrive predictably, forensic scientists can look to them for clues, such as when the corpse in question died.
Blow flies are among the first on the scene, for example. Hide beetles arrive later and feed on skin and ligaments, before breeding and leaving their larvae to feed.
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