{{short description|Family of insects}} {{Automatic taxobox | fossil_range = {{fossil range|Middle Jurassic|Recent}} | image = Golden stag beetle.jpg | image_caption = A male specimen of ''Lamprima aurata'', the golden stag beetle | display_parents = 3 | taxon = Lucanidae | authority = Latreille, 1804 | subdivision_ranks = Subfamilies | subdivision = Aesalinae<br /> Lampriminae<br /> Lucaninae<br /> Syndesinae }}
'''Stag beetles''' compose the family '''Lucanidae'''. It has about 1,200 species of beetles in four subfamilies.<ref name="Smith2006">{{Cite journal |last=Smith |first=Andrew B. T. |date=2006 |title=A Review of the Family-Group Names for the Superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with Corrections to Nomenclature and a Current Classification |journal=Coleopterists Society Monographs. Patricia Vaurie Series |issue=5 |pages=144–204 |jstor=4153168 |issn=1934-0451}}</ref> Some species grow to over {{convert|12|cm|in|frac=2|abbr=off}}, but most to about {{convert|5|cm|in|0|abbr=on}}.
==Overview== [[File:Dorcus curvidens hopei sjh.jpg|thumb|left|''Dorcus curvidens'' male (left) and female (right)]] [[File:COLE Lucanidae Lissotes.png|thumb|''Paralissotes'' sp. illustrated by Des Helmore|alt=]]{{See also|Taxonomy of Lucanidae}}The English name is derived from the large and distinctive mandibles found on the males of most species, which resemble the antlers of stags.
A well-known species in much of Europe is ''Lucanus cervus'', referred to in some European countries (including the United Kingdom) as ''the'' stag beetle, or the thunder beetle<ref>{{Cite web |date=2018-05-18 |title='Thunder beetles' show strength of capital's ecology {{!}} London Wildlife Trust |url=https://www.wildlondon.org.uk/news/thunder-beetles-show-strength-capitals-ecology |access-date=2026-03-01 |website=www.wildlondon.org.uk |language=en}}</ref>; it is the largest terrestrial insect in Europe. Pliny the Elder noted that Nigidius called the beetle ''lucanus'' after the Italian region of Lucania where they were used as amulets. The scientific name of ''Lucanus cervus'' adds ''cervus'', deer.
Male stag beetles are known for their oversized mandibles that are used to wrestle each other for favoured mating sites in a way that parallels how stags fight over females. Fights may also be over food, such as tree sap and decaying fruits. During a battle between two males, a stag beetle's main objective is to dislodge its opponent's tarsal claws with its mandible, thus disrupting their balance. Despite their often fearsome appearance, they are not typically aggressive to humans. Because its mandibles are capable of exceeding its own body size, stag beetles are generally inefficient runners and are very slow, typically feeling the need to fly from one location to another.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Goyens |first1=Jana |last2=Van Wassenbergh |first2=Sam |last3=Dirckx |first3=Joris |last4=Aerts |first4=Peter |date=May 2015 |title=Cost of flight and the evolution of stag beetle weaponry |journal=Journal of the Royal Society Interface |language=en |volume=12 |issue=106 |article-number=20150222 |doi=10.1098/rsif.2015.0222 |pmid=25878126 |issn=1742-5689 |pmc=4424704}}</ref>
Female stag beetles are usually smaller than the males, with smaller mandibles that are much more powerful than the males'.<ref name="London Wildlife Trust">{{cite web|title=How to help stag beetles|url=http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/Stag%20beetle%20advice%20note.pdf|website=wildlondon.org.uk|publisher=London Wildlife Trust|access-date=May 7, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170202000642/http://www.wildlondon.org.uk/sites/default/files/files/Stag%20beetle%20advice%20note.pdf|archive-date=February 2, 2017}}</ref> As larvae, females are distinguished by their cream-colored fat ovaries visible through the skin around two-thirds of the way down their back.{{cn|date=May 2026}}
The larvae feed for several years on rotting wood, growing through three larval stages until eventually pupating inside a pupal cell constructed from surrounding wood pieces and soil particles. In the final larval stage, "L3", the surviving grubs of larger species, such as ''Prosopocoilus giraffa'', may be the size of a human finger.
In England's New Forest, it was once believed that the stag beetle, dubbed the "devil's imp", was sent to antagonize corn crops. The superstition led to stoning the insects on sight, as observed by a writer in the ''Notes and Queries''.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Cowan |first=Frank |date=December 15, 2012 |title=Curious Facts in the History of Insects; Including Spiders and Scorpions, by Frank Cowan—A Project Gutenberg eBook. |url=https://www.gutenberg.org/files/41625/41625-h/41625-h.htm#Marker_36 |access-date=2022-03-16 |website=www.gutenberg.org}}</ref> Along with rhinoceros beetles, stag beetles are often bought as pets in South Korea and Japan.<ref>{{Cite web|last1=교수·생명과학부) |first1=남상호(대전대 |date=2001-09-28|title=[남상호 자연 다큐/곤충 세계 여행④]곤충도 '황금알'을 낳는다|url=http://www.sisajournal.com/news/articleView.html?idxno=99926|access-date=2020-07-26|website=시사저널|language=ko}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.tofugu.com/japan/pet-beetles-in-japan/|title=How to Care for Your Beetle|first=Linda|last=Lombardi|date=26 May 2014|website=tofugu.com|access-date=5 March 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180306165325/https://www.tofugu.com/japan/pet-beetles-in-japan/|archive-date=6 March 2018}}</ref>
== Evolution == The oldest known fossil of the group is ''Juraesalus'' from the late Middle Jurassic (Callovian) Daohugou Beds of Inner Mongolia, China. While initially interpreted as a member of Aesalinae, it was later interpreted to be a basal member of the family.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Kim|first1=Sang Il|last2=Farrell|first2=Brian D.|date=May 2015|title=Phylogeny of world stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) reveals a Gondwanan origin of Darwin's stag beetle|url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S1055790315000457|journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution|language=en|volume=86|pages=35–48|doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2015.02.015|pmid=25732069|bibcode=2015MolPE..86...35K |url-access=subscription}}</ref> ''Litholamprima'', the only genus in the subfamily Litholampriminae, is known from the Lower Cretaceous of Yixian Formation, China.<ref>{{cite journal|author=G.V. Nikolajev, D. Ren|year=2015|url=https://old.ssc-ras.ru/files/files/Nikolaev_Jen_KEB_11_1.pdf|title=A new fossil Lucanidae subfamily (Coleoptera) from the Mesozoic of China|journal=Caucasian Entomological Bulletin|volume=11|issue=11|page=15-18|lang=ru|doi=10.23885/1814-3326-2015-11-1-15-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240227091111/https://old.ssc-ras.ru/files/files/Nikolaev_Jen_KEB_11_1.pdf|archive-date=February 27, 2024|url-status=live}}</ref>
==Mandible allometry== [[Image:Metopodontus savagei-Musée royal de l'Afrique centrale.jpg|thumb|250px|right|Mandible allometry in ''Prosopocoilus savagei'']] Lucanid males have large mandibles. Their size often varies among individuals. Such variation is termed a scaling relationship or static allometry. Environmental conditions and genetic factors affect mandible size.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kawano |first1=Kazuo |title=Sexual Dimorphism and the Making of Oversized Male Characters in Beetles (Coleoptera) |journal=Annals of the Entomological Society of America |date=1 March 2006 |volume=99 |issue=2 |pages=327–341 |doi=10.1603/0013-8746(2006)099[0327:SDATMO]2.0.CO;2 |url=https://academic.oup.com/aesa/article/99/2/327/2759206?login=true|url-access=subscription }}</ref> They often have mandibles proportional to their elytron lengths.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Chen |first1=Zhen-Yi |last2=Hsu |first2=Yuying |last3=Lin |first3=Chung-Ping |date=2020-01-23 |title=Allometry and Fighting Behaviour of a Dimorphic Stag Beetle Cyclommatus mniszechi (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) |journal=Insects |volume=11 |issue=2 |pages=81 |doi=10.3390/insects11020081 |doi-access=free |issn=2075-4450 |pmc=7074643 |pmid=31979391}}</ref>
== References == {{Reflist}} ==External links== *{{Wikispecies-inline|Lucanidae}} *{{Commons category-inline|Lucanidae}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20151207104415/https://www.flickr.com/photos/tags/lucanidae/interesting/ Flickr] Images *[http://www.stagbeetle.info/ Stag beetle info] Research site containing much information on the stag beetle as well as information on current conservation schemes. *{{cite web |url=http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Catalog/LucanidaeC.htm |author=M.J. Paulsen |title=Annotated Checklist of the New World Lucanidae |access-date=2007-09-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120207164520/http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Catalog/LucanidaeC.htm |archive-date=2012-02-07 }} Checklist of New World stag beetles with links to pages with additional information and images. *{{cite web |url=http://www.goliathus.com/en/en-lucanidae.html |author=Toma Libich |title=Goliathus.com: gallery of Lucanidae}} *{{cite web |url=http://www.goliathus.cz/en/museum-lucanidae-2.html |title=Gallery of Lucanidae |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061020115522/http://www.goliathus.cz/en/museum-lucanidae-2.html |archive-date=2006-10-20 }} *{{cite web |url=http://www.bio-nica.info |author=J M Maes |title=Biodiversity: section on Lucanidae with a world catalogue and a world bibliography}} *[http://www.asahi-net.or.jp/~CH2M-NITU/kuwagate.htm Asahinet] Stag beetles on postage stamps and species illustrations. *[https://web.archive.org/web/20180409235807/http://lucanesdumonde.skynetblogs.be/ Lucanes du Monde] Image rich French blog *[http://www.tolweb.org/Lucanidae/9538 TOL] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916173444/http://www.tolweb.org/Lucanidae/9538 |date=2008-09-16 }} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120627172602/http://www-museum.unl.edu/research/entomology/Guide/Scarabaeoidea/Lucanidae/Lucanidae-Overview/LucanidaeO.html UNL] Generic Guide to New World Scarabs- Lucanidae,
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Category:Lucanidae Category:Extant Middle Jurassic first appearances Category:Pets in Japan Category:Scavengers Category:Taxa named by Pierre André Latreille