Stag beetle
The stag beetle is the biggest beetle in Europe. It is black with reddish brown wing cases. The male has giant reddish jaws that look like the antlers of a deer, and he uses them to wrestle other males.
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Fun facts
A stag beetle spends 3 to 7 years as a larva in rotting wood, but lives only a few weeks as a grown-up beetle.
The larva is blind, creamy white and curled like the letter C.
Larvae talk to each other by rubbing combs on their legs to make tiny sounds.
Males fight by trying to throw each other off a log or branch.
On summer evenings it flies slowly and clumsily with a low, buzzing hum.
Most asked questions about Stag beetle
?Can a stag beetle bite?
The male cannot really hurt you. The female can give a painful nip if you pick her up.
?How big is a stag beetle?
Males grow up to 7.5 centimetres long. Females are 3 to 5 centimetres.
?How long does a stag beetle live?
Most of its life, 3 to 7 years, is spent as a larva. The adult lives only a few weeks.
Myth buster
Myth: A male stag beetle can hurt you badly with his huge jaws.
Truth: No. The male's jaws are too weak to harm people. It is the smaller female that can give a painful nip.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Lucanus cervus
- Named by
- Linnaeus, 1758
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Lucanidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Lucanidae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia
- Also known as
- European stag beetle, Greater stag beetle
Where the facts come from
- Lucanus cervus (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Orchi. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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