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Answer
Jan 26, 2023 - 05:11 PM
You have found "Cleaner Crew" (Dermestes maculatus) larvae.
We are chemical-free and use them as a biological method of keeping our bins free of detritus or decaying vegetation and dead insects. They keep our colonies thriving by preventing bacterial or fungal contamination that might otherwise occur.
They are also widely used in the reptile industry as many people who breed insects for their use buy from us in the thousands of them to help keep colonies free of dead insects.
We are incredibly proud that we don't use chemicals to raise our feeders (many people choose to eat them!). So we have two employees whose sole job is manually removing these beetles and larvae from our bins sorted for shipment using a wet/dry vacuum with a tiny hose attached. Because we are chemical-free, we get the occasional order with some larvae or beetles. They are entirely harmless; many animals will enjoy eating the beetle's larvae just as much as they enjoy the feeder insects. If you are concerned, they are easy to identify and pick out. They are considered harmless and, interestingly enough, are used in museums and by taxidermists across the country to clean skeletons.
If your animals are opposed to them, you can let us know when you order to double-check that all cleaner crew are handpicked out before packaging, and we will be very happy to oblige.
Thank you so much; please let me know if I can be of any more help!
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