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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Water, Rove, Scarab, Longhorn, Leaf and Snout Beetles (Polyphaga) » Scarab, Stag and Bess Beetles (Scarabaeoidea) » Stag Beetles (Lucanidae) » Lucanus » Reddish-brown Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus)
Photo#59865
Reddish-brown Stag Beetle - Lucanus capreolus - male
Copyright © 2006 Brenda Gardener

Reddish-brown Stag Beetle - Lucanus capreolus - Male
Madison, Dane County, Wisconsin, USA
June 25, 2006
Size: 3-4 cm
Found this beast this afternoon while out watering the flowers. Photo taken when it was crawling around near the top of the garage door. However, I had also taken a picture of a spider on the nearby geraniums -- which didn't turn out so well -- and I was about to delete it, when I took a second look and spotted this monster (or its friend!) in the background, hanging out on the center stalk of the geranium. I'm not positive, but I think it's a stag beetle of some sort. I kind of suck at guessing lengths, but it was somewhere in the 1-1/2 inch range... it was BIG, and creepy, and I tried not to get too close.
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Contributed by Brenda Gardener on 25 June, 2006 - 8:22pm
Last updated 29 June, 2006 - 1:29am

Lucanus capreolus
It looks to be a male Lucanus capreolus. I think it was recently changed to Lucanus from Pseudolucanus. I can't recall who changed it or why.
… Joshua P. Basham, 25 June, 2006 - 10:25pm login or register to post comments

 
Link to guide, former genus Pseudolucanus
Just a link to the guide page...
Lucanus capreolus, Reddish-brown Stag Beetle, for more information, see the guide page. Note the yellow femora, distinctive for this species, as shown in Mike Boone's excellent photo:


See Lucanus for brief discussion of suppression of Pseudolucanus.
… Cotinis, 25 June, 2006 - 11:00pm login or register to post comments

 
Thank you both! I'm still cre
Thank you both! I'm still creeped out by it, though. I've never seen anything like this around here before.
… Brenda Gardener, 26 June, 2006 - 9:48pm login or register to post comments

 
ID
You can move it to guide page if you so desire or we can do it for you if you don't know how. You don't need to put the name in the title as it goes there automatically once it is placed in the correct genus (and species) so you can delete it here when performing the move.
We don't have any from Wisconsin so this is a nice contribution, I hope that you have more bug photos as we don't have as much from the West as we do for the East.
… Beatriz Moisset, 28 June, 2006 - 5:57am login or register to post comments

 
I'll give moving it a whirl,
I'll give moving it a whirl, and see if I can figure it out. Thanks!

I actually make it a point to avoid bugs as much as possible. (Eek!) But I'll try to keep them in mind whenever I'm out with the camera. :)
… Brenda Gardener, 29 June, 2006 - 1:25am login or register to post comments

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