The giant stag beetle, also known as the elephant stag beetle, can be found in the woodlands of North America ranging from Virginia and North Carolina to the northeastern United States. : Goyens J, Van Wassenbergh Our national and international surveys help us to keep an eye on numbers and give the best advice on saving them. Stag beetles have a shiny black head and thorax (middle section), and chestnut-brown wing cases. The oversized pincer-like mandibles of the stag beetle - particularly the male - are an imposing bit of weaponry on a 1.5-inch-long, heavily armored beetle, but the insect uses them mostly in. Updates? Are there stag beetles in Pennsylvania? Amazingly, yes they can! In many species the elaborately branched and toothed mandibles may be as long as the beetle itself. The stag beetle consumes rotting and decaying wood during its larval stage. Stag beetles love log piles and old tree stumps, especially from native species like oak trees. There were no trees near by but it . The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. Get uplifting news, exclusive offers, inspiring stories and activities to help you and your family If you do have to move a stag beetle for its own safety, then please move it as short a distance as possible (into a nearby bush for example). Predators: Bats, birds, and insect-eating mammals. By opening their thick front wings, they unfold their membranous back wings and take off, not unlike a giant B-52 bomber. They may be small, but boy are these little critters powerful! In the final larval stage, "L3", the surviving grubs of larger species, such as Prosopocoilus giraffa, may be the size of a human finger. There are a total of [ 182 ] Pennsylvania Beetles in the BeetleIdentification.org database. Male beetles appear to have huge antlers. These beetles show an average body size of around 2.5 inches in length. Its main food is vegetation that is rotting. Such species are among the most threatened insects in Europe, says U.S. Forest Service scientist Michael Ulyshen. Environmental conditions of development affect antler size, but genetic factors are active. Source: Wikipedia. See the fascinating transformation from caterpillar to butterfly! Parks, gardens, hedgerows, orchards, and woodlands are all great habitats for stag beetles! explore and learn delivered straight to your inbox. Female stagbeetles prefer light soils which are easier to dig down into and lay their eggs. No doubt they are attracted by the smell of the larvae and quite probably by their stridulation as well; foxes have very acute senses. native; Habitat. Adult males vary in size from 35mm 75mm long andtend to be seen flying at dusk in the summer looking for a mate. Species: L. capreolus. By the end of August, most of them will have died. Color Identification Guide Beetles are found throughout the United States - reaching as far out as Hawaii, Alaska, and territories inbetween. Beetle Jelly is not fit nor intended for human consumption. During these busy summer months, the adult beetles only eat tree sap, and rely on all the nutrients they built up as larvae to help them survive. The beetle battles by trying to grab an opponent with its enlarged mandibles and then throw the opponent into the air. Once fully grown, the larvae leave the rotting wood theyve been feeding on to build a large cocoon in the soil, where they pupate and finally metamorphose into an adult. Lampriminae J. R. Soc. Along with rhinoceros beetles, stag beetles are often bought as pets in South Korea and Japan. Theyre fairly smooth skinned, have orange head and legs and brown jaws. Your comment will be checked and approved shortly. For up to six years they look like white grubs, and make their homes in old trees and rotting wood. In addition to stag beetles, there are two other species that may be painful to humans. On warm summer evenings, adult males can be spotted flying through the balmy air in search of mates. Their primary purpose is to mate before they die to produce future offspring to help recycle the forest. But they can use their feathery tongue to drink from sap runs and fallen soft fruit. Although they can fly, female beetles are most often seen walkingaround on the ground. Why is there a stag beetle in my house? They also produce a deliberate buzzing sound which we were hoping to detect but didnt on the day.. Found in Warminster, Pennsylvania. As with our other list pages, you can click on the small 'X' in each entry to remove unneeded/unwanted entries in the result. Note: The above text is EXCLUSIVE to the site www.InsectIdentification.org. Lucanus elephus is the largest stag beetle in the US. Stag beetles are a family of about 1,200 species of beetles in the family Lucanidae, currently classified in four subfamilies. If youre planning a pond, ensure it has some shallow edges. Adults may come out at night and hang out . Range: Southern and central Europe. Stag beetles are harmless anddo not damage living wood ortimber. By submitting images to us (BeetleIdentification.org) you acknowledge that you have read and understood our, 2023 www.BeetleIdentification.org All Rights Reserved Content 2018-2023 (5yrs). Stag beetle larvae are occasionally found in sleepers and fencing in gardens, but this is only where the wood is in contact with the soil and is already rotting down. They are often active at night and can be attracted to lights. Males have large antler-like jaws, female jaws are much smaller. After surviving all those years as a grub, adult stag beetles live for just four months! Take part. If you dig up stag beetle larvae, put them back exactly where you found them. Humans are also a threat to stag beetles. The largest (giant) stag beetle in South Carolina is Lucanus elaphus. You may see stag beetles flying around on warm summer evenings, or you might dig up the large, white grubs, called larvae, in the garden. Save Our Wild Isles Community Fund is providing live match funding. Stag beetles will get stressed if kept in a small case. telling us about where they live near you, Download Top Tips for Stag Beetles poster, Development of non-invasive monitoring methods for stag beetles, A collaborative conservation study across Europe, Bionomics and distribution of the stag beetle across Europe. The material presented across this site is for entertainment value and should not be construced as usable for scientific research or medical advice (insect bites, etc) Please consult licensed, degreed professionals for such information. The mandibles on the male are generally reserved for male-to-male combat when it comes time to woo a female Stag Beetle. They have gone extinct in Denmark and Latvia, although there has been a successful reintroduction into one site in Denmark in 2013 and a recent one off sighting in Latvia which local experts are investigating further. The name refers to the resemblance of the antennae to deer antlers. While adults look too big and cumbersome to fly, they can. [2]. Scientific Name: Lucanus capreolus Other Name (s): Reddish-brown Stag Beetle; Common Stag Beetle Category: Beetle Size (Adult; Length): 20mm to 36mm (0.78" to 1.41") Colors: red; black; orange; yellow Descriptors: pincers; claw; pinchers; big; hefty; reddish brown; flying Stag-Beetle-Lucanus-Capreolus Video (s) A stag beetle bite or wound from any of these three species will typically require a few days to heal, but have no lasting effects. Development will continue to reduce stag beetle habitats, but increased awareness of their existence can help defend the beetles against development. 2023 Caniry - All Rights Reserved Adult beetles are attracted to the warm surfaces of tarmac and pavements, which makes them particularly vulnerable to being crushed by traffic or feet. Stag beetles live in woodland edges, hedgerows, traditional orchards, parks and gardens throughout Europe, including Britain, but not Ireland. Stag beetles and their larvae are quite harmless and are a joy to watch. The larvae only feed on decaying wood so please dont kill them. These cookies are required to make our website work! If you have ever seen a stag beetle, you would remember it. Their larvae need dead and decaying wood to survive, and sadly, people have often spent time tidying up woodland floors and removing this precious stag beetle habitat! Beetles in Pennsylvania Most of the beetles in Pennsylvania have been concol3red annoying household pests causing immense damage to food products. They can be found on or around oak trees, rotting tree stumps and logs. The scientific name of Lucanus cervus adds cervus, deer. Hidden underground, the grubs grow big and strong by feeding on decaying (rotting) plant material. They are nearly always found below ground and can beas deep ashalf a metre down. So, if you have any of these habitats in your garden, avoid the temptation to tidy! Paintings of Chaisognathus granti from Chile, which is metallic green and iridescent red, and Phalacrognathus muelleri from Australia, which is metallic carmine and edged with green, have been used on postage stamps. Weve been studying them for nearly 20 years, with the help of the public, and our partner organisations. Get uplifting news, exclusive offers, inspiring stories and activities to help you and your family explore and learn. A fully-grown stag beetle larva can be up to 11cm long. comb.). *For more information, see the following link summarizing the research on giant stag beetles: USDA Giant Stag Beetles: Ecology, Genetics, and Distribution. This is the most important time in a stag beetles life, as its their chance to produce offspring! These are large insects with rather threatening looking mandibles. Once theyve mated, females return to the spotwhere they emerged, if there is enough rotting wood to feed their young, anddig down into the soil to lay their small, round eggs in rotting wood such as log piles, tree stumps and old fence posts. (Image Credit: Roger de Keyzer) This is a purple form but the golden stag beetle's colour ranges from red/golden-red to near-black. Stag beetles spend most of their very long life cycleunderground as a larva. Stag beetles, and loads of other mini-beasts, would much prefer that you left rotting wood alone. [7], The Lucanidae have (male-only) antlers. Beetle Jelly is one of the best foods available for beetles and the humans that feed them. I have saw one outside my house and me and my friends watched it burrow into the ground by a rotten tree stump as it says in the text. This makes them important in recycling fallen trees back into basic nutrients for the forest ecosystem. The Stag Beetle feeds on leaves and sap and you may see them flying toward bright lights at night. This species occurs throughout the eastern U.S. and Canada, and reports suggest the beetle has been plentiful in much of its range. During their short adult lives, male stag beetles spend their days sunning themselves to gather strength for the evenings activities of flying in search of a mate. The name refers to the resemblance of the mandibles to deer antlers. Carolina is Lucanus elaphus and make their homes in old trees and rotting wood species elaborately... In the BeetleIdentification.org database hedgerows, traditional orchards, parks and gardens Europe. 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