Anyone else ever wondered how this particular wood boring insect got its morbid name? Does this beetle perhaps like to preside over funerals or the dying?
Well, I have heard that this beetle used to be found in hospitals and churches back in the day when timber constructed buildings were very common. It is said that patients could even hear (hospitals must have been very quiet back then) the tapping sound of the Death watch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum).
During quiet, sleepless nights their tapping sound could fill the night air, leading some superstitious folk to believe that the presence of this beetle signalled impending death.
In reality this tapping sound is used to attract a mate and is created by the beetle banging its head (some say it uses its jaw) against the walls of the tunnels it creates in the timber – gives a whole new meaning to head-banging, doesn’t it?
Even the Jerusalem Chamber in Westminster Abbey has had a run in with the Death watch beetle. The roof of this particular chamber, originally built during the reign of King Richard II in the 14th century, had to be repaired in the 1950s due to beetle damage.
Apart from the Death watch beetle, which is a native British insect, the Common Furniture beetle, is another common wood boring insect. As the name suggests, this pest is known to infest wood furniture.
Wood boring insects are seasonal pests, emerging each year from timber as the weather warms up from April to September. Within buildings the Death watch beetle has a particular penchant for oak timber. Once they have emerged, their sole aim is to find a mate and lay eggs (as much as 40 to 70 eggs at a time) in suitable undisturbed timber.
The moisture content of the timber has to be just right for it to be a suitable host for the eggs. The adult beetles usually die approximately 10 days after laying the eggs.
By the way, is Deathwatch supposed to be written as one or two words? Anyone know?