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Photo#37684
big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - female

big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - Female
Derry, Rockingham County, New Hampshire, USA
November 10, 2003
Size: 15 mm or so

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big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - female big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - female big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - female big jaws - Ceruchus piceus - female

Lucanidae
Despite the meager fauna in New Hampshire, I don't know them. Maybe a female Dorcus parallelus?

 
If so, it's a female.
I saw the long basal antennomere but I didn't think antenna was genticulate enough for Lucanidae. I'll follow that lead though.

 
Ceruchus piceus female
Upon consultation with the collection, based on size and appearance, I would go with Ceruchus piceus female.

 
I didn't even compare!
I've taken loads of photos of C. piceus and I've seen an easy thousand of them, maybe thousands. They're very common in my neck of the woods. What on earth made me so sure this beetle was something else? Maybe there's a future for me in studying bats because sometimes I seem downright__________________________. (Fill in the blank.)