Dried tissue is removed from skeletons by using dermestid beetle larvae (genus Dermestes).
At that time the unwrapping of a mummy was of considerable scientific interest (as well as curiosity) and later studies revealed beetles later identified as N. mumiarum Hope, 1834, Dermestes maculatus DeGeer, 1774 (as Dermestes vulpinus) and Dermestes frischi Kugelann, 1792 (as Dermestes pollinctus Hope, 1834).