Maine’s Spookiest Insect Sounds—and What’s Making Them in Your Yard?

Most folks in Maine are familiar with many of the sounds in the great outdoors. The sound of birds chirping, squirrels squeaking, and the incessant buzzing of insects like mosquitos.

And while the chirp of a cricket or the hum of a cicada are likely to just blend into the background of a hot summer night, there are a couple of strange sounds...spooky sounds, if you will, that you might not know also come from teeny-tiny creepy-crawlies.

Let me introduce you to two of Maine's eeriest sounding beetles: the Powder Post Beetle and the terrifyingly names Death Watch Beetle. And let me tell you, for such puny little pests, the sound they make can pack a punch and cause your heart to skip a beat, if you don't know what's making them.

I first learned about these beetles one day, in my backyard, as I was moving wood from a pile in the middle of my yard to up against my house.

Every time I went towards the pile, I'd hear these strange sounds. I had never heard this kind of rhythmic knocking before and thought maybe, somehow, some sort of rodent had gotten trapped beneath a rogue log, and was trying to get out. I searched and searched and piled and piled and couldn't find the culprit. So once I was done with my wood pile, I went inside and did a google search of "What's making that knocking sound in my wood pile?"

I was surprised to find that what I was looking for was quite a bit smaller than a rodent, but just as meddlesome and destructive.

The results I got said that it could be one of two things; a Death Watch Beetle or a Powder Post Beetle. So I went down an internet rabbit hole and started to do some research on the bugs.

Did you know, that according to Maine.gov,

"In an active infestation, look for borings accumulating in piles near holes or on the floor below, beetles crawling on the wood, or you may hear a ticking sound that is made by some larvae.

Deathwatch beetles produce a distinctive ticking or clicking sound by tapping their heads against the wood. Powder post beetles, while not as loud, may create a rasping or grinding sound as they tunnel through wood."

They're not lying!

Let's take a look and listen to the Death Watch Beetle First.

The Encyclopedia Britannica goes into detail a little further, explaining that, the mystique surrounding the Death Watch Beetle isn't just from the sound that it makes, (a bump or ticking sound that comes from knocking it's jaws against the sides of the tunnels it bores as it's destroying wood, but when, anecdotally, it would appear!

"According to superstition, the sound, actually a mating call, was believed to forecast an approaching death. Its name is derived from the credence that it was often heard by the people “on watch” with an ill person on the verge of death. These beetles tend to be small (1 to 9 mm, or less than 1/2 inch) and cylindrical. When disturbed, they usually pull in their legs and play dead."

This is what these little suckers sound like!

As for our other culprit, the Powder Post Beetle, which gets it's name from the fine "talcum" powder residue it's boring action created, instead of tapping, while equally creepy looking, this bugger makes a grinding almost chewing sound!

As the Department of Agriculture, Conservation and Forestry website explains, this chewing action can be just as destructive as the Death Watch Beetle's knocking!

"Powder post beetles are a particular group of insects which bore in dead wood which can become a problem in the home if conditions are right. Both the small brownish-black beetles and the whitish grubs bore throughout the wood and reduce the wood to a fine flour-like powder over a period of time. The presence of small pinholes in the bark of the wood (from pin-sized to pencil lead sized holes) and the presence of flour-like powder may indicate the presence of these insects...All woods are subject to the attack of powder post beetles but hardwoods, especially birch, seem to be favored. "

So, what do these tiny teeth sound like? Just that, like sound like their crunching on carrots. You can hear it really well at the :30 mark of this video.

While I'm not a fan of the buzzing of mosquitos (especially at night, when I'm trying to sleep and I can't find that thing to save my life) or the humming of the annoying cicadas, at least I know their sound isn't going to potentially destroy my wood pile or my home.

THAT is what's most terrifying to me, I think; that spooky sound means trouble that could literally cause major damage to the house I live in. And that's scary!