Superworms could replace beetles for cleaning skeletal remains

超级麦皮虫或可取代甲虫，用于清理骨骼标本

Fatemeh Rastekar, Niloofar Alaei Kakhki and Morteza Monfared discuss the safe and practical utility of superworm larvae for cleaning museum specimens. Fatemeh Rastekar、Niloofar Alaei Kakhki 和 Morteza Monfared 探讨了利用超级麦皮虫幼虫清理博物馆标本的安全性和实用性。

Preparing skeletal specimens for display in museums or for forensic studies requires the bones to be thoroughly cleaned to remove any remaining flesh or soft tissue. However, the need for thorough cleaning must be balanced against the risk of damaging the actual bones. According to a new paper published in the journal PLoS One, the larvae of so-called “superworms” (Zophobas morio)—a common pet food—offer a practical alternative. 为博物馆展示或法医研究准备骨骼标本时，需要彻底清洁骨骼，以去除残留的肌肉或软组织。然而，在追求彻底清洁的同时，必须权衡损伤骨骼本身的风险。根据发表在《PLoS One》期刊上的一篇新论文，所谓的“超级麦皮虫”（Zophobas morio，一种常见的宠物饲料）的幼虫提供了一种实用的替代方案。

There are existing methods for cleaning skeletal remains, such as burial, digestive enzymes, or chemical treatments. But most have drawbacks, including damaging bones, taking a long time to process, having expensive operational costs, or the use of environmentally hazardous substances. Using dermestid beetles has become the preferred method for skeletal cleaning since they can efficiently remove soft tissue without damaging the bone. The downside is that without strict containment practices, the beetles can escape and lay eggs that hatch, leading to infestations that threaten museum collections. 目前已有的骨骼清理方法包括掩埋法、消化酶法或化学处理法。但大多数方法都有缺陷，例如会损伤骨骼、处理时间过长、运营成本高昂，或使用了对环境有害的物质。使用皮蠹甲虫（dermestid beetles）已成为清理骨骼的首选方法，因为它们能高效去除软组织且不损伤骨骼。其缺点在于，如果没有严格的控制措施，甲虫可能会逃逸并产卵孵化，导致虫害，从而威胁到博物馆的馆藏。

Fatemah Rastekar of Ferdowsi University of Mashhad in Iran and co-authors thought superworms might bring the same benefits as the beetles without the risk of infestation. For one thing, beetle colonies span all life stages and hence require complex containment; superworm cleaning only requires the larval stage, which lasts 10–12 weeks compared to just five to seven weeks for the beetles. And the larvae don’t pupate in crowded conditions, so it’s easier to manage the colonies while reducing the risk of escape. But could superworms match the cleaning efficiency of their rival beetles? 伊朗马什哈德菲尔多西大学的 Fatemah Rastekar 及其合著者认为，超级麦皮虫或许能带来与甲虫相同的益处，且不会产生虫害风险。首先，甲虫种群涵盖了所有生命阶段，因此需要复杂的控制措施；而超级麦皮虫清理工作仅需幼虫阶段，该阶段持续 10 到 12 周，相比之下甲虫仅需 5 到 7 周。此外，超级麦皮虫幼虫在拥挤环境下不会化蛹，因此更容易管理种群，同时降低了逃逸风险。但超级麦皮虫的清理效率能否媲美其竞争对手甲虫呢？

To find out, Rastekar et al. collected several donated specimens of various sizes and species and cleaned them using commercially available superworms: an Egyptian rosette, a house mouse, a little bittern, an alligator gar, a Eurasian eagle-owl, a rook, a wild cat, and a gray wolf. They also performed a parallel experiment for comparison, cleaning the skeleton of a marbled polecat using a conventional boiling method to remove the flesh. 为了探究这一点，Rastekar 等人收集了多种不同大小和物种的捐赠标本，并使用市售的超级麦皮虫进行清理，包括：埃及果蝠、小家鼠、小苇鳽、鳄雀鳝、雕鸮、秃鼻乌鸦、野猫和灰狼。他们还进行了一项平行对比实验，使用传统的煮沸法清理了一具大理石艾鼬的骨骼以去除肌肉。

All the specimens were skinned first, and the team removed any excess flesh and internal organs. Each specimen was weighed and put in the same-sized containers filled with superworm larvae to determine the optimal ratio of larvae to specimen for thorough cleaning without damaging bones. The team rotated larger specimens every six to eight hours into fresh containers. After each cleaning session, the larvae were fed fruit or vegetable peels, since feeding only on flesh can prevent the superworms from molting or even hasten their death. Any waste materials were removed regularly to maintain hygienic conditions. 所有标本均先进行剥皮处理，团队去除了多余的肌肉和内脏。每具标本在称重后被放入装有超级麦皮虫幼虫的同等大小容器中，以确定在不损伤骨骼的前提下实现彻底清洁的最佳幼虫与标本比例。团队每 6 到 8 小时将大型标本转移至新的容器中。每次清理后，幼虫会被喂食果皮或菜皮，因为仅以肉类为食会阻碍超级麦皮虫蜕皮，甚至加速其死亡。废弃物会被定期清理，以保持卫生条件。

Once the larvae were done chowing down, the skeletons were removed from the containers and rinsed with warm water to remove any residual larvae or tissue. While they did briefly immerse the skeletons in a 1 percent bleach solution, the authors cautioned that this can damage bone tissue, so it’s not recommended. Finally, the skeletons were coated with a clear gloss varnish spray to prepare them for display. (This step would be skipped in a forensic setting, since varnish sprays are not ideal for things like CT analysis.) 当幼虫完成“进食”后，骨骼会被从容器中取出，并用温水冲洗以去除残留的幼虫或组织。虽然他们曾将骨骼短暂浸泡在 1% 的漂白剂溶液中，但作者提醒称这可能会损伤骨组织，因此不建议这样做。最后，骨骼被喷上一层透明光亮清漆，以便进行展示。（在法医环境下会跳过此步骤，因为清漆喷雾不适合进行 CT 分析等操作。）

The result: A ratio of 10 to 15 grams of larvae per gram of animal specimen proved the most optimal, minimizing cleaning time while not damaging any bones. Once the optimal ratio had been established, Rastekar et al. conducted follow-up tests on three small bird skulls, with similar results. The authors recommend using larger containers for medium to large specimens to reduce cleaning time and the need to reposition them frequently. “Altogether, these findings demonstrate that superworms provide an adaptable and effective alternative for skeletal preparation in museum and research settings,” they concluded. 结果显示：每克动物标本对应 10 到 15 克幼虫的比例最为理想，既能最大限度缩短清理时间，又不会损伤骨骼。在确定了最佳比例后，Rastekar 等人对三个小型鸟类头骨进行了后续测试，结果相似。作者建议对中大型标本使用更大的容器，以减少清理时间和频繁移动标本的需求。他们总结道：“总而言之，这些发现表明，超级麦皮虫为博物馆和研究环境中的骨骼制备提供了一种适应性强且有效的替代方案。”