Category: Lucanidae

Lucanus placidus Say

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

Another of the stag beetle species found in the U.S. It’s around the same size as Lucanus capreolus but lacks the bicolored femurs and has multiple teeth on the mandibles instead of one like in L. capreolus.

This species can be found in the midwestern states from southern Canada down to Texas. I collected the single specimen I have in northwestern Wisconsin in the same general area where I also collected L. capreolus.

Like other stag beetles adults can be found at lights at night and larvae can be found in decaying logs and stumps.

lucanus placidus

Lucanus capreolus (Linnaeus)

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the handful of stag beetle species in the U.S. Though not as impressive as Lucanus elaphus it is still a large sized species. The mandibles on the males don’t get very large but are still noticeable

This species can be found throughout the eastern U.S. and north to southern Canada. This was actually the first stag beetle species I collected in Wisconsin when I still lived there. The best way to tell this species apart from the others is the bicolored femora.

It can be found in deciduous forests as well as parks. Larvae can be found in rotting logs and adults can be found on sugar baits, sap, and can be found at lights.

lucanus capreolus

Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3107

Lucanus elaphus Fabricius

On By Erik OstrumIn Coleoptera, LucanidaeLeave a comment

One of the most impressive beetle species found in the U.S. would have to be Lucanus elaphus…..aka the giant stag beetle. Though North America isn’t particularly rich in stag beetle species, this is one that rarely fails to impress. This is actually a species I have never seen alive in person, my friend and roommate back in my college days collected the specimen while he was in North Carolina.

Males of this species are unmistakable while females can be confused with the couple other species present in the same range. Larvae feed and can be found in moist decaying wood while adults can feed on plant juice and rotting fruit.

This species can be found in the eastern U.S and can be found at lights at night. Though having a more widespread range, there is some concern surrounding conservation status.

Currently in the collection I only have one male specimen. It is always an attention getter and people are always amazed at the size of both the mandibles and the specimen as a whole.

lucanus elaphus

Other online sources:

https://bugguide.net/node/view/3105