Hide and Tallow Dermestid

Dermestes talpinus · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Dermestidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Hide and Tallow Dermestid
Photo: University of Alaska Museum, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), Public domain

The Hide and Tallow Dermestid lives in North America. Its native range is also North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it lives

It is found in North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

It is native to North America.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 22 of 51 states and DC. Most records: California, Oregon, Colorado, Michigan, Alaska, Utah, Idaho, Illinois.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America; native in Canada; native in United States. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Hide and Tallow Dermestid photo 2
Photo: University of Alaska Museum, no known copyright restrictions (public domain), Public domain
Hide and Tallow Dermestid photo 3
Photo: Adam J. Searcy, CC BY
Hide and Tallow Dermestid photo 4
Photo: Jared Shorma, CC BY
Hide and Tallow Dermestid photo 5
Photo: Melissa McMasters, CC BY

Same family (Dermestidae)

Varied Carpet BeetleVaried Carpet BeetleAnthrenus verbasciCan damage your homeLarder BeetleLarder BeetleDermestes lardariusCan damage your homeBuffalo carpet beetleBuffalo carpet beetleAnthrenus scrophulariaeCan damage your homeBlack Carpet BeetleBlack Carpet BeetleAttagenus unicolorCan damage your homeHide BeetleHide BeetleDermestes maculatusCan damage your homeFurniture Carpet BeetleFurniture Carpet BeetleAnthrenus flavipesCan damage your home

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dermestes_talpinus

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-26 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-26.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.