David Element's Wildlife Web Page Beetles 11

David Element

Wildlife Photography

and Digital Video Images

____________________ Beetles 11 - Stag-Beetles 2

STAG-BEETLE Lucanus cervus (m)

STAG-BEETLE Lucanus cervus (f)

LESSER STAG-BEETLE, OR DORCUS BEETLE Dorcus parallelipipedus (m)

RHINOCEROS, OR LEAST STAG-BEETLE Sinodendron cylindricum (m)

The sexual dimorphism and hind-wing structure of the Stag-beetle are illustrated. The digital photograph of the female was taken in Brittany and the remaining pictures were taken in the UK. More pictures of the male may be seen on Beetles 2 (this page also contains more information about this species). The male Lesser Stag-beetle (or Dorcus Beetle) is occasionally mistaken for a female Stag Beetle although a difference in shape should be evident from the photographs. Female Lesser Stag-beetles are usually smaller than the males and less heavily built. The male Rhinoceros Beetle (or Least Stag-beetle) has an obvious upward projection from the head although this is absent in the female. The introduction of the first of these vernacular names appears to be recent and the much larger and more impressive Continental beetle Oryctes nasicornis probably has a better claim to it.

RECOMMENDED READING

'The Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society' Volume 62 Number 451, December 2003 contains some highly informative articles about the British Lucanidae.

Links to 'ARKive' species accounts: