STAG BEETLE

By: Sal Barraza & Matthew Macedo

STAG BEETLE

Lucanus cervusScientific name

An adult beetle’s head and thorax (middle section)are shiny black in color and its wing cases are chestnut brown.Adult males are 35-75mm long and have large antler-like mandibles.Females grow between 30-50mm long, with normal sizedmandibles.

Stag beetles are a particularly impressive, even fearsome sight. The males of most species sport large, branching jaws that resemble antlers on a deer and give them their name. These jaws are used for fighting and wrestling with other males over territories and food. The females' mandibles are usually less showy and grand. There are around 1,200 species in this beetle family worldwide, with some species reaching a respectable 12cm in length. The larvae of the majority feed on rotting wood.

ABOUT THE STAG BEETLE

Larvae eats decomposing wood.Adults only eat tree sap or sometimes nothing at all.Despite their appearances the Stag Beetle is actually harmless.

BENEFITS

They sometimes fly into windows or crash-land, and British people kill them because they think their dangerous, they are becoming endangered as a result. Deforestation is also a factor.

HARMFUL

WWW.bbc.cop.ukWWW.ypte.org.ukWWW.ptes.orgWWW.Entomolgy.wisc.edu

SOURCES.