Dorcus rectus

{{short description|Species of beetle}}

{{speciesbox

| image = Dorcus rectus.jpg

| image_caption =

| taxon = Dorcus rectus

| authority = (Motschulsky, 1857)

}}

File:Mandibles of the Dorcus rectus species of beetle.png

Dorcus rectus, the little stag beetle, is a species of beetles in the family Lucanidae. It can be found in China(Liaoning), Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Russia.[https://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2019/details/species/id/bdb1bd7d8053fbf6942e79f2980bb1d2 Catalogue of Life: 2019 Annual Checklist]{{cite journal |last1=Matsuoka |first1=Norimasa |last2=Hosoya |first2=Tadatsugu |last3=Hamaya |first3=Tsuyoshi |last4=Abe |first4=Azuma |title=Phylogenetic Relationships Among Four Species of Stag Beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) Based on Allozymes |journal=Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology |date=February 1998 |volume=119 |issue=2 |page=401 |doi=10.1016/S0305-0491(97)00366-0 |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0305049197003660 |access-date=31 December 2021|url-access=subscription }} These beetles have a distinctive red shell that separates them from Dorcus curvidens. Males of this species have been observed to have mandible trimorphism,{{cite journal |last1=Iguchi |first1=Yutaka |title=Male mandible trimorphism in the stag beetle Dorcus rectus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) |journal=European Journal of Entomology |date=2013 |volume=110 |issue=1 |pages=159–163 |doi=10.14411/eje.2013.022|doi-access=free }} a characteristic that has only been described in two species of Lucanidae—with the other one being Odontolabis cuvera—"and a small number of other invertebrates" as of 2017.{{cite journal |last1=Matsumoto |first1=Keita |last2=Knell |first2=Robert |title=Diverse and complex male polymorphisms in Odontolabis stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) |journal=Scientific Reports |date=December 1, 2017 |volume=7 |issue=1 |page=16733 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-17115-5 |pmid=29196728 |pmc=5711891 |bibcode=2017NatSR...716733M }} The mandibles are used by males as weapons.