Female Stag Beetle

[Cheryl]

I was walking along a section of our local canal today and noticed a larger then average beetle in the grass and wondered to myself whether it might be a stag beetle but I for some reason I had in my mind that they were found in woody areas.

Checked when I got home and it is a Female Stag Beetle - never seen one before

[squishy]

can one of our experts tell me how to tell the difference between lesser stag beetles and females? i'm not actually sure

[Jim Ford]

How big was it? I think it looks like a lesser stag beetle.

Jim

[Cheryl]

Originally Posted by Jim Ford

How big was it? I think it looks like a lesser stag beetle.

Jim

Jim it was about 2" + long, I did wonder about the Lesser Stag Beetle but my ID was based upon a picture

I decided it was a female Stag Beetle based on that central orange bit on the head - sorry I don't know the proper terms and also as well as those small "nippers" it also has "antennae" which isn't shown in my book for the Lesser Stag Beetle - think I'll have to go and google female lesser stag beetles.

Thank you very much for your feedback

I've never seen a Stag or a Lesser Stag beetle before so whichever it is it was still something new for me

[charlieb]

Stag Beetles have brown elytra, Lesser Stag Beetles have black

[Hedge Witch]

At 2 inches + it has to be a Stag Beetle (rather than a Lesser Stag Beetle). Lovely shot Cheryl and a nice find!

[mickmassie]

It is a Lesser Stag. Apart from the colour, the shape of the head and thorax are a give away (parallel sided, head a continuation of the thorax). Reported size is sometimes subjective and is variable anyway. M.

[Hedge Witch]

So this is a male then, M?

[Jim Ford]

I see lesser stag beetles in the garden. I quite like them, but gosh they're sluggish creatures - a snail could outrun them!

Jim

[Cheryl]

Thanks all for the feedback - I've put it down as a Lesser - shame it wasn't the other afterall but it was still nice to have seen it