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Stag Beetle — printable fact sheet
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Stag Beetle
Lucanus cervus
The European stag beetle (Lucanus cervus) is the continent's largest terrestrial beetle, males reaching around 75 millimetres, most of it mandible. Those antler-like jaws are the classic example of a weapon that has been optimised for display and grappling rather than for damage…
Did you know?
- Stag beetles can fly, and males are often seen on warm summer evenings searching for females, despite their large size and heavy mandibles.
- A male stag beetle's giant jaws bite more weakly than a female's small ones, because the mechanical leverage is sacrificed for reach and display. Larvae spend three to seven years underground in rotting wood before the adult lives just a few weeks. Adults barely feed, relying on the fat reserves built up over years as a grub. The best thing anyone can do for stag beetles is to leave a pile of buried hardwood logs to rot rather than clearing them away.
What I learned
Draw the stag beetle
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