What is Stag beetle?
[[File:Dorcus curvidens hopei sjh.jpg|thumb|''Dorcus curvidens'' male (left) and female (right)]] '''Stag beetles''' are a family of about 1,200 species of [[beetles]] in the [[family (biology)|family]] ''Lucanidae''. They are first found in the mid [[Jurassic period]].<ref>Kim, Sang Il; Farrell, Brian D. 2015. Phylogeny of world stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) reveals a Gondwanan origin of Darwin's stag beetle. ''Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution''. '''86''': 35–48. [https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1055790315000457?via%3Dihub]</ref> Male stag beetles use their [[Jaw|jaws]] to wrestle with each other. They fight over females and over food, such as tree sap or decaying fruits. Despite their appearance they are not normally aggressive to [[Human|humans]]. Adults spend the winter underground in the [[soil]] and usually emerge from mid-May onwards. They can fly, and need to because they have to cover large distances.<ref>Goyens J, Van Wassenbergh S, Dirckx J, Aerts P. 2015 Cost of flight and the evolution of stag beetle weaponry. J. R. Soc. Interface 12: 20150222. [http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsif.2015.0222]</ref> The larvae live in rotting wood for several years going through three larval stages. A well-known species in much of [[Europe]] is ''Lucanus cervus'', known as ''the'' stag beetle. It is the largest land [[insect]] in Europe. == References == {{reflist}} [[Category:Polyphaga]]