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L. cervus (Figuier, 1869) |
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Lucanus elaphus
THE GIANT STAG BEETLE |
"After the same fashion the carabus or stag-beetle comes from
grubs that live in dry wood: at first the grub is motionless, but
after a while the shell bursts and the stag-beetle issues forth."
Aristotle |
Although still fairly common here in east Tennessee, I would suspect that
it will become more infrequently encountered due to loss of larval resources (large dead trees)
and fatalities associated with the adults' attraction to lights. |
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The giant stag beetle is encountered far less frequently than its cousin,
Pseudolucanus capreolus, the "pinching bug". I have found roughly a 75:1 ratio of male P. capreolus to male L. elaphus
in east Tennessee and southwestern Virginia. The females of L. elaphus are even less frequently encountered, as noted by
Blatchley (1910) and Downie and Arnett (1995), and I have found only two females as opposed to twenty males. Females and males of P. capreolus
are encountered in similar proportions. L. cervus, the European stag beetle (top right), is larger and more robust than L. elaphus. |
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 The mandibles of P. capreolus are not as elaborated as those of L. elaphus, although the rest of their bodies
are similar in size and coloration. Females of these species do not have enlarged mandibles, and are similar in appearance to each other. They can be distinguished by the
coloration of the legs. Female L. elaphus have entirely black legs, while those of P. capreolus have yellowish-golden femora (thighs). They are similar
in appearance to the female Lucanus cervus pictured below (from Zahradnik, 1991).
Members of the stag beetle family (Lucanidae) can be distinguished from other beetles on the basis of their antennae. They are
distinctly elbowed, and the terminal segments are elongated but cannot be folded tightly together. This distinguishes them from scarab beetles (such as rhinoceros and june beetles), whose
terminal segments can be tightly folded. |
Harris, 1869 |
Adults, despite the ferocious appearance of their mandibles, feed only on liquids. Males use their
mandibles in battles of dominance to win the right to mate with a willing female.
Larvae of Lucanidae inhabit old stumps and decaying logs, feeding on the fungus-enriched wood. They do not live or pupate in the
earth, as depicted in the L. cervus engraving at the top of the page. Harris (1869), Kellogg (1905) and Downie and Arnett (1995) all state that the larvae of these
large beetles can require up to six years to complete development. |
Hutchins, 1972 |
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| Zahradnik, 1991 |
| Larva, pupa and female of Lucanus cervus. |
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| Ruschenberger, 1845 |
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"But the most remarkable instance of this occurs in the stag-beetle (Lucanus cervus), so common in Kent and some
other districts, though rare, or unknown, in the greater
part of the empire. The size, however, is not the only distinctions; for the female
possesses little more than the rudiments of the very remarkable horn-like mandibles
with which the male is furnished. This organ in the male is no less formidable than it
appears, as the unwary school-boy often experiences; for it can be used as a pair of
pincers, so powerfully, as to inflict considerable pain." |
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| Library of Entertaining Knowledge, 1831 |
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References
- Aristotle. 350 BC. History of Animals.
- Blatchley, W.S. 1910. The Coleoptera or Beetles Known to Occur in Indiana. The Nature Publishing
Company, Indianapolis.
- Bourassé, J.J. 1842. Esquisses Entomologiques, ou Histoire Naturelle des Insectes les Plus Remarquables. Ad Mame et Cie, Imprimeurs-Libraires, Tours.
- Cambefort, Yves 1993. The Beetle as a Religious Symbol. Cultural Entomology Digest IO Vision 2:15-20.
- Downie, N.M., and R.H. Arnett, Jr. 1995. The Beetles of Northeastern North America. The Sandhill Crane Press, Gainesville.
- Duncan, J. 1835. The Natural History of Beetles. W.H. Lizars, Edinburgh.
- Figuier, L. 1869. The Insect World. D. Appleton and Co., New York.
- Harris, T.W. 1862. A Treatise on Some of the Insects Injurious to Vegetation. William White, Boston.
- Hutchins, R.E. 1972. Insects in Armor: A Beetle Book. Parents' Magazine Press, New York.
- Kellogg, V.L. 1905. American Insects. Henry Holt and Company, New York.
- Library of Entertaining Knowledge. 1831. Insect Miscellanies. Charles Knight, London.
- Packard, A.S. 1883. Guide to the Study of Insects, 8th Edition. Henry Holt and Company, New York.
- Ruschenberger, W.S.W., M.D. 1845. Elements of Entomology: Prepared for the Use of Schools and Colleges. Grigg & Elliot, Philadelphia.
- White, R.E. 1983. A Field Guide to the Beetles of North America. (The Peterson Field Guide Series #29). Houghton Miflin Company, Boston.
- Zahradnik, Z. 1991. The Illustrated Book of Insects. Chartwell Books, Inc., Secaucus, NJ.
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| All images © 1999 by Jay Comeaux unless otherwise noted. |
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