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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Beetles (Coleoptera) » Polyphaga » Scarabaeoidea » Stag Beetles (Lucanidae) » Lucaninae » Lucanini » Lucanus

Genus Lucanus

Reddish-Brown Stag Beetle - Lucanus capreolus reddish brown stag beetle-beautiful insect - Lucanus capreolus - male BG2185 C2836 - Lucanus capreolus - male Beetle - Lucanus capreolus - male Lucanus capreolus? - Lucanus capreolus Stag Beetle - Lucanus elaphus Large beetle - Lucanus placidus Reddish-brown Stag Beetle - Lucanus capreolus - male
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Coleoptera (Beetles)
Suborder Polyphaga
Superfamily Scarabaeoidea
Family Lucanidae (Stag Beetles)
Subfamily Lucaninae
Tribe Lucanini
Genus Lucanus
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Pseudolucanus Hope in Westwood 1845(1)
Explanation of Names
Lucanus Scopoli 1763
From Lucania, an ancient district of southern Italy; Plinius the Elder used this name to describe the stag beetle. Names of European deer species -- Cervus elaphus (the red deer; elk in America), Capreolus capreolus (the roe deer), and Dama dama (the fallow deer) have all been used as specific epithets for various Lucanus species (L. dama has been synonymized with L. capreolus) (Fremlin 2010)
Numbers
4 spp. in our area(1), ~50 total(2)
Range
NA & Eurasia (most spp. in Asia)(2); in our area, 3 spp. are widespread in the eastern half of the US (all 3 range into ON), and one is restricted to sw. US(1)
Works Cited
1.Paulsen M.J. (2013) Annotated checklist of the New World Lucanidae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea)
2.The Scarabaeoid Beetles of Nebraska
Brett C. Ratcliffe & M.J. Paulsen. 2008. University of Nebraska State Museum, Vol 22, 570 pp.
Contributed by Cotinis on 3 April, 2004 - 9:01am
Additional contributions by Phillip Harpootlian, Bbarnd, Chuck Entz, v belov
Last updated 21 August, 2014 - 1:30pm

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