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Return to Texas Entomology - Compiled by Mike Quinn
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(male)
Giant Stag Beetle County Records
County Record Data from E.G. Riley, Nov. 2005
Range: Eastern U.S., from Texas to Nebraska east to Virginia and North Carolina.
Adult Activity: March to August, most specimens in the TAMUIC from June.
Larval Hosts: Lucanid larvae typically breed in old stumps and in decaying roots and logs of both coniferous and deciduous trees.
Similar Species:
There are some 50 Lucanus species distributed around the Northern Hemisphere, most in Asia. Five species occur in the U.S. and northern Mexico, three restricted to the eastern United States, one species is found in the Southwest and one additional species in northern Mexico. U.S. Lucanus taxonomy.
Texas Taxa:
Lucanus capreolus (Linnaeus) May to August most in June and July Lucanus elaphus Fabricius March to August most in June Lucanus placidus (Say) May to September most in May and June Remaining Texas Lucanids:
Dorcus parallelus MacLeay May to August Platycerus virescens (Fabricius) April to December Nicagus occultus Paulsen & Smith May to June most in June
Photos:
Lucanus elaphus - Male - Female
Lucanus capreolus - Male - Female
Lucanus placidus - Female - Male & Female
Dorcus parallelus - Male - Male & Female
Playtycerus virescens - Photo - Photo
Weblinks:
Stag Beetle - TAMU
Lucanus elaphus - Jay Comeaux
Etymology: Lucanus elaphus (Fabricius, 1775)
lucan (LL) A kind of beetle
elaph. -o. =us (G). A stag, deer
Biography: Johann Fabricius (1745-1808) - University of Nebraska-Lincoln State Museum - Division of Entomology
Arnett, R.H., Jr., M.C. Thomas, P.E. Skelley & J.H. Frank. (editors). 2002. American Beetles, Volume II: Polyphaga: Scarabaeoidea through Curculionoidea. CRC Press. 880 pp.
Arnold, D.C. & W. A. Drew. 1987. The Stag Beetles of Oklahoma (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Proc. Okla. Acad. Sci. 67:27-29.
Benesh, B. 1937. Some Notes on Boreal American Dorcinae (Coleoptera: Lucanidae). Trans. Amer. Entom. Soc. 63:1-16.
Borror, D.J. 1960. Dictionary of Word Roots and Combining Forms. National Press Books, Palo Alto. v + 134 pp.
Dillon, E.S. & L.S. Dillon. 1961. A Manual of Common Beetles of Eastern North America. Row, Peterson, and Co., Evanston, IL. 884 pp.
Milne, L. J. 1933. Notes on Pseudolucanus placidus (Say) (Lucanidae, Coleoptera). Canadian Entomologist 65: 106-114.
Paulsen, M.J. 2005. Annotated checklist of the New World Lucanidae. University of Nebraska State Museum, Lincoln. Online publication
Paulsen, M.J. & A.D. Smith. 2005. A new species of stag beetle from sand dunes in west Texas, and a synopsis of the genus Nicagus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae: Aesalinae: Nicagini). Zootaxa 1050: 45–60. [published: 16 Sept. 2005]
Ratcliffe, B.C. & J. Christen. 2002 Lucanus elaphus Fabr. (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) discovered in Nebraska, with brief notes on its biology and identification. Entomological News 113: 68-70.
Riley, E.G. & C.S. Wolfe. 2003. An annotated checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of Texas. Southwestern Entomologist, Supplement, no. 26. 37 pp.
Ritcher, P.O. 1966. White Grubs and Their Allies, a Study of North American Scarabaeoid Larvae. Oregon State University Monograph Series No. 4: 1-219.
White, R.E. 1983. A Field Guide to the Beetles of North America. Houghton Mifflin Company, Boston. 368 pp.
08 Oct 2007 © Mike Quinn / mike.quinn@tpwd.state.tx.us / Texas Entomology / Texas Beetle Information
