Deathwatch is a name given to several kinds of small brownish beetles that communicate by knocking their heads against wood. This odd action produces a peculiar ticking or rapping sound. Superstitious people believe that the rapping, heard in the quiet of the night, foretells death in the house. Deathwatch beetles burrow into furniture and woodwork and are often very destructive. The drugstore beetle, which feasts on drugs and spices stored in shops, is sometimes called the deathwatch. But it belongs to a different beetle family.
