Dermestid beetles are a type of beetle that feed on recently deceased flesh. They are known for their hearty appetites, feasting on dead carcasses and stripping them down to skeletons.
They are put to work at the Leyendecker Museum as a means of preparing skeletons for display. To prevent them from creating further damage to the skeletons, slabs of meat are always left in the Mammology Lab.
By the time Laura Bow arrives at the Mammology Lab, the dermestid beetles have found their way into the steamer trunk containing the body of the real Archibald Carrington III and picked the body clean, making the skeleton nearly impossible to identify without the presence of the nearby Pocket Watch.
If the steamer trunk is left open long enough without giving them Meat, the dermestid beetles will attack Laura Bow. Laura's means of preventing this is to use the meat on the trunk. The dermestids will leave the trunk and scurry across the floor, carrying the meat atop them. They will turn up again occasionally in the Museum Hall (Bottom Floor) and the Sun Altar Room, but will be too busy carrying the meat around to pay much attention to what other creatures in the area are doing.