deathwatch beetle
Noun 1. bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death (synonym) deathwatch, Xestobium rufovillosum (hypernym) beetle (member-holonym) Anobiidae, family Anobiidae | ||||
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Deathwatch beetle definition was found in categories: Language, Idioms & Slang(1) Encyclopedia(1)
Deathwatch beetle Definition from Language, Idioms & Slang Dictionaries & Glossaries
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deathwatch beetle
deathwatch beetle
n : bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death [syn: deathwatch, xestobium rufovillosum ]
deathwatch beetle
n : bores through wood making a ticking sound popularly thought to presage death [syn: deathwatch, xestobium rufovillosum ]
Deathwatch beetle Definition from Encyclopedia Dictionaries & Glossaries
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Death watch beetle
The death watch beetle (Xestobium rufovillosum) is a woodboring beetle, namely a beetle whose larvae are xylophagous. The adult is approximately 7 mm long. The larva can be up to 11 mm long.
To attract mates, these woodborers create a tapping or ticking sound that can be heard in old building rafters during 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.
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