Facts

Xestobium rufovillosum otherwise known as the death watch beetle is known for making a ticking sound by bashing their heads against the wood ( Marshall 2006).  People used to think of this ticking sound as a foreshadow to their death (Jnine pest control, 2009).

The death watch beetle appears in many stories throughout history hear are some examples:

In Edgar Allan Poe's story "A Tell-Tale Heart" the deathwatch beetle is known as deathwatches the narrator hears the ticking sound on the walls (Jnine pest control, 2009).

In the famous novel Tom Sawyer Tom hears a ticking noise from a beetle while he is waiting for Huck Finn to show up at the graveyard (Jnine pest control, 2009).

There is a quote from George Orwells novel A Clergyman's Daughter when the death watch beetle is mentioned ". . .beside the Church Expenses box two fragments of riddle beam explained mutely that it was due to that mortal foe of Christendom, the death-watch beetle." (Jnine pest control, 2009).

 

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