Death watch beetle

Death watch beetle
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Anobiidae
Genus:	Xestobium
Species:	X. rufovillosum
Binomial name
Xestobium rufovillosum (De Geer, 1774)

The death watch beetle, Xestobium rufovillosum, is a woodboring beetle. The adult beetle is 7 millimetres (0.28 in) long, while the xylophagous larvae are up to 11 mm (0.43 in) long.

To attract mates, these woodborers create a tapping or ticking sound that can be heard in the rafters of old buildings on quiet summer nights. They are therefore associated with quiet, sleepless nights and are named for the vigil (watch) kept beside the dying or dead, and by extension the superstitious have seen the death watch as an omen of impending death.

The term "death watch" has been applied to a variety of other ticking insects including Anobium striatum, some of the so-called booklice of the family Psocidae, and the appropriately named Atropos divinatoria and Clothilla pulsatoria.

The larva is very soft, yet can bore its way through wood, which it is able to digest using a number of enzymes in its alimentary canal provided that the wood has experienced prior fungal decay.^[1]

See also

• The Click Song

References

1. ^ E. A. Parkin (1940). "The digestive enzymes of some wood-boring beetle larvae" (PDF). Journal of Experimental Biology 17 (4): 364–377. http://jeb.biologists.org/cgi/reprint/17/4/364.pdf. 

External links

• Death watch beetle media at ARKive
• Death watch beetle tapping on wood
• Data related to Xestobium rufovillosum at Wikispecies

This Anobiidae-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.v · Categories: Woodboring beetles Anobiidae Building defects Household pest insects Animals described in 1774 Anobiidae stubs Wikimedia Foundation. 2010. Игры ⚽ Нужна курсовая? Six Moments Musicaux (Rachmaninoff) Zelal Cola Look at other dictionaries: death-watch beetle — ˌdeath watch ˈbeetle f12 [death watch beetle death watch beetles] noun a small insect that eats into old wood, making sounds like a watch ↑ticking …   Useful english dictionary death-watch beetle — ► NOUN ▪ a beetle whose larvae bore into dead wood and structural timbers. ORIGIN so called because it makes a sound like a watch ticking, formerly believed to portend death …   English terms dictionary death-watch beetle — noun a small beetle whose larvae bore into and damage dead wood and structural timbers, making a sound like a watch ticking which was formerly believed to portend death. [Xestobium rufovillosum.] …   English new terms dictionary death-watch beetle — noun A woodboring beetle, namely a beetle whose larvae are xylophagous …   Wiktionary death|watch — «DEHTH WOCH, WCH», noun. 1. a watch kept beside a dying or dead person. 2. a guard for a person about to be put to death. 3. a small, destructive beetle that lives in wood and makes a ticking sound which was once believed to foretell death …   Useful english dictionary death — O.E. deað death, dying, cause of death, in plura, ghosts, from P.Gmc. *dauthaz (Cf. O.S. doth, O.Fris. dath, Du. dood, O.H.G. tod, Ger. Tod, O.N. dauði, Dan. dèd, Swed. död, Goth. dauþas death ), from verbal stem …   Etymology dictionary Beetle — Beetles redirects here. For the band, see The Beatles. For the car, see Volkswagen Beetle. This article is about the insect. For other uses, see Beetle (disambiguation). Beetle Temporal range: 318–0 Ma …   Wikipedia Death — n. 1 the final cessation of vital functions in an organism; the ending of life. 2 the event that terminates life. 3 a the fact or process of being killed or killing (stone to death; fight to the death). b the fact or state of being dead (eyes… …   Useful english dictionary death — n. 1 the final cessation of vital functions in an organism; the ending of life. 2 the event that terminates life. 3 a the fact or process of being killed or killing (stone to death; fight to the death). b the fact or state of being dead (eyes… …   Useful english dictionary deathwatch beetle — Borer insect (beetle species Xestobium refuvillosum) that tends to be small (less than 0.5 in., or 1–9 mm) and cylindrical. When disturbed, it usually pulls in its legs and plays dead. It makes a ticking or clicking sound by bumping its head or… …   Universalium 18+ © Academic, 2000-2024 Contact us: Technical Support, Advertising Dictionaries export, created on PHP, Joomla, Drupal, WordPress, MODx. Mark and share Search through all dictionaries Translate… Search Internet Share the article and excerpts Direct link … Do a right-click on the link above and select “Copy Link”