It is almost Halloween which means it is time for some scary creepy crawlies, or even better named “Boo Bugs!”
A number of insects have gained that haunting popularity. An entomologist with Purdue University tells us about one that is mentioned in literature.
“Death watch beetles are actually wood boring insects that in the burrow that they made in the wood they then tap their head against the wood and produce a tapping sound, which is not heard very often by people because it is quiet,” Tom Turpin states. “The name actually came up when people were sitting around a wake being very quiet and they could hear this tapping sound.”
Edgar Allen Poe included the death watch beetle’s sound in his story A Tell Tale Heart.