Missouri stag beetle

Stag Beetles. Field Guide Aquatic Invertebrates. Butterflies and Moths. Land Invertebrates. Reptiles and Amphibians. Trees, Shrubs and Woody Vines. Wildflowers, Grasses and Other Nonwoody Plants. Scientific Name. Common Name Synonyms. Habitat and Conservation Most stag beetles are found on the ground in forests. Others frequent sandy stream banks near driftwood.

As with other insects, although they can go almost anywhere by foot or by wing, they tend to be near their food sources and egg-laying places. The larvae live in rotting logs, and the adults consume tree sap. In some places, stag beetle larvae have been found in deep layers of hardwood mulch used in hiking trails and playgrounds. Stag beetles are sometimes attracted to lights at night. Food Larvae eat rotting wood and the juices associated with it.

Adults eat tree sap where it runs after a branch or the bark has been injured. Larvae eat rotting wood and the juices associated with it. Adults eat tree sap where it runs after a branch or the bark has been injured. They may also eat rotting fruit, and some species apparently eat the sweet so-called honeydew secretions of aphids. The best mating sites are where females go to eat, or near the rotting wood where females lay eggs.

Using their huge jaws, males grapple with each other for the best locations. After hatching from eggs, the larvae live in rotting wood, growing and molting, often for years. When fully grown, the larvae pupate surrounded by wood chips, then emerge as adults. Just about any creature with a jaw can potentially bite, and will, in defense. The larvae are important decomposers of dead wood, which cleans up the forests and improves soil.

Several animals, including raccoons and woodpeckers, probe or poke through rotting logs and eat the grubs. Many other animals, including birds, bats, and skunks, frogs, eat the adults. Several types of flies and wasps parasitize the larvae, laying eggs on them that hatch and devour the host. Invertebrates are animals without backbones, including earthworms, slugs, snails, and arthropods.

There may be as many as 10 million species of insects alive on earth today, and they probably constitute more than 90 percent all animal species. More About Spiders. Insect, Spider and Kin Facts. Skip to main content. Google Tag Manager. More Land Invertebrates. It lives mainly in or near hardwood forests and is one of the stag beetles notably attracted to lights at night.

More Land Invertebrates. Jim Rathert. Other Common Name :. Family :. Lucanidae stag beetles in the order Coleoptera beetles. Description :. Habitat and conservation :.

More Information :. BugGuide: Giant Stag Beetle. Similar Species. Eastern Hercules Beetle Dynastes tityus.