stag beetle

File:Dorcus curvidens hopei sjh.jpg male (left) and female (right)]]

File:COLE Lucanidae Lissotes.png|alt=]]{{See also|Taxonomy of Lucanidae}}The English name is derived from the large and distinctive mandibles found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stags.

A well-known species in much of Europe is Lucanus cervus, referred to in some European countries (including the United Kingdom) as the stag beetle; it is the largest terrestrial insect in Europe. Pliny the Elder noted that Nigidius called the beetle lucanus after the Italian region of Lucania where they were used as amulets. The scientific name of Lucanus cervus adds cervus, deer.

Male stag beetles are known for their oversized mandibles that are used to wrestle each other for favoured mating sites in a way that parallels how stags fight over females. Fights may also be over food, such as tree sap and decaying fruits. During a battle between two males, a stag beetle's main objective is to dislodge its opponent's tarsal claws with its mandible, thus disrupting their balance. Despite their often fearsome appearance, they are not typically aggressive to humans. Because its mandibles are capable of exceeding its own body size, stag beetles are generally inefficient runners and are very slow, typically feeling the need to fly from one location to another. :Goyens J, Van Wassenbergh

S, Dirckx J, Aerts P. 2015 Cost of flight and the

evolution of stag beetle weaponry. J. R. Soc.

Interface 12: 20150222.

http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0222

Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller mandibles that are much more powerful than the males'.{{cite web|title=How to help stag beetles|url=http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/Stag%20beetle%20advice%20note.pdf|website=wildlondon.org.uk|publisher=London Wildlife Trust|access-date=May 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000642/http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/Stag%20beetle%20advice%20note.pdf|archive-date=February 2, 2017|url-status=dead}} As larvae, females are distinguished by their cream-coloured, fat ovaries visible through the skin around two-thirds of the way down their back.

The larvae feed for several years on rotting wood, growing through three larval stages until eventually pupating inside a pupal cell constructed from surrounding wood pieces and soil particles. In the final larval stage, "L3", the surviving grubs of larger species, such as Prosopocoilus giraffa, may be the size of a human finger.

In England’s New Forest, it was once believed that the stag beetle, dubbed the "devil's imp", was sent to do some evil to the corn crops. The superstition led to stoning the insects on sight, as observed by a writer in the Notes and Queries.{{Cite web |last=Cowan |first=Frank |date=December 15, 2012 |title=Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions, by Frank Cowan—A Project Gutenberg eBook. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41625/41625-h/41625-h.htm#Marker_36 |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}

Along with rhinoceros beetles, stag beetles are often bought as pets in South Korea and Japan.{{Cite web|date=2001-09-28|title=[남상호 자연 다큐/곤충 세계 여행④]곤충도 '황금알'을 낳는다|url=http://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=99926|access-date=2020-07-26|website=시사저널|language=ko}}{{cite web|url=https://www.tofugu.com/japan/pet-beetles-in-japan/|title=How to Care for Your Beetle|first=Linda|last=Lombardi|date=26 May 2014|website=tofugu.com|access-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306165325/https://www.tofugu.com/japan/pet-beetles-in-japan/|archive-date=6 March 2018|url-status=dead}}

The oldest known fossil of the group is Juraesalus from the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia, China. While initially interpreted as a member of Aesalinae, it was later interpreted to be a basal member of the family.{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Sang Il|last2=Farrell|first2=Brian D.|date=May 2015|title=Phylogeny of world stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) reveals a Gondwanan origin of Darwin's stag beetle|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790315000457|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=86|pages=35–48|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.02.015|pmid=25732069|url-access=subscription}} Litholamprima, the only genus in the subfamily Litholampriminae, is known from the Lower Cretaceous of Yixian Formation, China.{{cite journal|author=G.V. Nikolajev, D. Ren|year=2015|url=https://old.ssc-ras.ru/files/files/Nikolaev_Jen_KEB_11_1.pdf|title=A new fossil Lucanidae subfamily (Coleoptera) from the Mesozoic of China|journal=Caucasian Entomological Bulletin|volume=11|issue=11|page=15-18|lang=ru|doi=10.23885/1814-3326-2015-11-1-15-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227091111/https://old.ssc-ras.ru/files/files/Nikolaev_Jen_KEB_11_1.pdf|archive-date=February 27, 2024|url-status=live}}

Image:Metopodontus savagei-Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale.jpg]]

The Lucanidae males have large antlers. Their size often varies among individuals. Such variation is termed a scaling relationship or static allometry. Environmental conditions and genetic factors affect antler size.{{cite journal |last1=Kawano |first1=Kazuo |title=Sexual Dimorphism and the Making of Oversized Male Characters in Beetles (Coleoptera) |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |date=1 March 2006 |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=327–341 |doi=10.1603/0013-8746(2006)099[0327:SDATMO]2.0.CO;2 |url=https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article/99/2/327/2759206?login=true|url-access=subscription }}

{{Reflist}}

• {{Wikispecies-inline|Lucanidae}}
• {{Commons category-inline|Lucanidae}}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20151207104415/https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/lucanidae/interesting/ Flickr] Images
• [http://www.stagbeetle.info/ Stag beetle info] Research site containing much information on the stag beetle as well as information on current conservation schemes.
• {{cite web |url=http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Catalog/LucanidaeC.htm |author=M.J. Paulsen |title=Annotated Checklist of the New World Lucanidae |access-date=2007-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207164520/http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Catalog/LucanidaeC.htm |archive-date=2012-02-07 |url-status=dead }} Checklist of New World stag beetles with links to pages with additional information and images.
• {{cite web |url=http://www.goliathus.com/en/en-lucanidae.html |author=Toma Libich |title=Goliathus.com: gallery of Lucanidae}}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.goliathus.cz/en/museum-lucanidae-2.html |title=Gallery of Lucanidae |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020115522/http://www.goliathus.cz/en/museum-lucanidae-2.html |archive-date=2006-10-20 }}
• {{cite web |url=http://www.bio-nica.info |author=J M Maes |title=Biodiversity: section on Lucanidae with a world catalogue and a world bibliography}}
• [http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~CH2M-NITU/kuwagate.htm Asahinet] Stag beetles on postage stamps and species illustrations.
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20180409235807/http://lucanesdumonde.skynetblogs.be/ Lucanes du Monde] Image rich French blog
• [http://www.tolweb.org/Lucanidae/9538 TOL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916173444/http://www.tolweb.org/Lucanidae/9538 |date=2008-09-16 }}
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120627172602/http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Overview/LucanidaeO.html UNL] Generic Guide to New World Scarabs- Lucanidae,

{{Coleoptera|4}}

{{Taxonbar|from=Q208786}}

{{Authority control}}

Category:Extant Middle Jurassic first appearances

Category:Pets in Japan