The larvae of deathwatch beetle feed deep within timbers. However, adults of the deathwatch beetle are attracted to light. In 1838 Henry David Thoreau published an essay mentioning the deathwatch beetle. The adult deathwatch beetle is cylindrical measuring on average long. In 1988, Linda Pastan wrote a poem entitled "The Deathwatch Beetle". In 1961 the Trust treated the timbers against deathwatch beetle and extensively restored the roof. The species is known generally as the "eastern deathwatch beetle". The deathwatch beetle is part of the beetle family Ptinidae, formerly known as Anobiidae. The deathwatch beetle infests the structural timbers of old buildings, mostly attacking hardwood, especially oak. A common cause of holes in Japanese woodblock prints is the deathwatch beetle ("Xestobium rufovillosum").