Stag Beetle

Stag beetles are Britain's largest beetle. The species of stagbeetle we have in this country is Lucanus cervus. The male stagbeetles are easily recognisable by their 'antlers' - these are in fact enlarged mandibles. The female stag beetles do not have the enlarged mandibles and are slightly smaller stag beetles.

Stag beetles UK

stag beetles stag uk england

Stag beetles show a wide variation in size. Male stagbleetles can be from approx. 3.5 to 7.5cm in length. The female stag beetles show similar variation, but are generally smaller (they can be as small as 2.3cm). However, the stag beetle is the adult form of the species and cannot grow - smaller beetles are not younger than the bigger ones and are not capable of growing any bigger. We don't know why there is such a large variation in size and this is one of the areas my research hopes to address.

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