Thursday, March 28, 2013

No I Did Not Make That Up: Flesh Eating Beetles

(Photo: Kyle McDaniel, The Wisconsin State Journal)

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I think the following sentences may be among the greatest opening lines ever written . . .

Beneath the soil where college students trod each day, there is a chamber that creeps and crawls and writhes. Here, the humid air is sweet with the odor of rotten flesh and thousands of bugs devour once-living animals, piece by piece.

Now that's what I call journalism!

If you've read The Darkness Dwellers then you know there's a scene involving dermestid beetles. These ravenous little creatures can strip the tissue off a carcass in no time. They can also "crawl into cracks and crevasses where human hands cannot reach." Awesome, right?

Hungry for more? Check out this article, which includes photos and a video of the dermestidae in action!

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