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Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
 in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies Some species grow to 8 cm
Centimetre

A centimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
 (3¼ in
Inch

An inch is the name of a Units of measurement of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units....
), but most are about 5 cm (2 in).

The English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 name is derived from the large and distinctive mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
s found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stag
STAG

STAG: A Test of Love is a reality television television program, hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding....
s.

A well-known species in much of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 is Lucanus cervus
Lucanus cervus

Lucanus cervus is the best-known species of stag beetle , and is sometimes referred to simply as the stag beetle. It lives in holes in old trees and dead trunks, in the forest as well as in groves....
, referred to in Britain
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 as "the" stag beetle (it is the largest British terrestrial insect).






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Stag beetles are a group of about 1,200 species of beetle
Beetle

Beetles are the group of insects with the largest number of known species. They are placed in the order Coleoptera , which contains more described species than in any other order in the animal, constituting about 25% of all known life-forms....
 in the family Lucanidae, presently classified in four subfamilies Some species grow to 8 cm
Centimetre

A centimetre is a Units of measurement of length in the metric system, equal to one hundredth of a metre, which is the current International System of Units SI base unit of length....
 (3¼ in
Inch

An inch is the name of a Units of measurement of length in a number of different systems, including Imperial units, and United States customary units....
), but most are about 5 cm (2 in).

The English
English language

English is a West Germanic language that originated in Anglo-Saxon England and has lingua franca status in many parts of the world as a result of the military, economic, scientific, political and cultural influence of the British Empire in the 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries and that of the United States from the mid 20th century onwa...
 name is derived from the large and distinctive mandible
Mandible

The mandible or inferior maxillary bone forms the lower jaw and holds the lower tooth in place. It also refers to both the upper and lower sections of the beaks of birds....
s found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stag
STAG

STAG: A Test of Love is a reality television television program, hosted by Tommy Habeeb. Each episode profiles an engaged couple a week or two before their wedding....
s.

A well-known species in much of Europe
Europe

Europe is, conventionally, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally divided from Asia to its east by the water divide of the Ural Mountains, the Ural , the Caspian Sea, and by the Caucasus Mountains to the southeast....
 is Lucanus cervus
Lucanus cervus

Lucanus cervus is the best-known species of stag beetle , and is sometimes referred to simply as the stag beetle. It lives in holes in old trees and dead trunks, in the forest as well as in groves....
, referred to in Britain
United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom , the UK or Britain,is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe....
 as "the" stag beetle (it is the largest British terrestrial insect). Pliny the Elder
Pliny the Elder

Gaius Plinius Secundus , better known as Pliny the Elder, was an ancient author, naturalist or natural philosopher and naval and military commander of some importance who wrote Natural History ....
 noted that Nigidius called the stag beetle lucanus after the Italian region of Lucania
Lucania

Lucania was an ancient district of southern Italy, extending from the Tyrrhenian Sea to the Gulf of Taranto. To the north it adjoined Campania, Samnium and Apulia, and to the south it was separated by a narrow isthmus from the district of Bruttium....
 where they were used as amulets. The scientific name of Lucanus cervus is this word, plus cervus, deer
Cervus

Cervus is a genus of deer consisting of the following species:* Central Asian Red Deer - Central Asian Red Deer* Cervus albirostris - Thorold's Deer or White-lipped Deer...
.

Male stag beetles use their jaws to wrestle each other for favoured mating sites, but despite their often fearsome appearance they are not normally aggressive to humans. Stag beetles are sometimes used in the Chinese sport of insect fighting
Insect fighting

Insect fighting is a blood sport involving insects. It is practised in areas in China, Japan, and Thailand. There are people who train and fight their insects against other insects in underground fighting arenas....
.

Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller mandibles.

The larva
Larva

A larva is a young form of animal with indirect developmental biology, going through or undergoing metamorphosis .The larva can look completely different from the adult form, for example, a caterpillar differs from a butterfly....
e feed for several years on rotting wood, growing into grubs which in larger species may be as big as a human finger.

Taxonomy

See Taxonomy of Lucanidae
Taxonomy of Lucanidae

Partial List of SpeciesSubfamily Aesalinae:Tribe Aesalini::Genus Aesalus :::*Aesalus asiaticus Lewis, 1883:::*Aesalus himalayicus Kurosawa, 1985:::*Aesalus imanishii Inahara & Ratti, 1991:::*Aesalus meridionalis Bartolozzi, 1989:::*Aesalus neotropicalis Bates, 1886:::*Aesalus saburoi:::*Aesalus sawaii F...


External links

  • Images
  • Research site containing lots of information on the stag beetle as well as a monitoring form and information on current conservation schemes.
  • Checklist of New World stag beetles with links to pages with additional information and images.
  • ** Stag beetles on postage stamps and species illustrations.