THE STAG BEETLE J. T .
CLARK
(Colchester Royal Grammar School) ONE of the best known of all insects is the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus (L.)). This is one of the largest and most impressive of the world's insects, and has been recognised since Roman times ; in fact its modern scientific name of Lucanus was first given to it by the Roman naturalist P. Nigidius Figulus. It was named in honour of Lucania, a district of Italy, one of the many regions where it is found. It is in fact widespread throughout almost all Europe and the adjacent parts of Asia. An indication of its fame is the fact that it has received a ränge of populär names in many countries, all the names in some way indicative of its impressive appearance—" Flying Bull", " Flying Stag", " Dragon ", " Horned Beast ", etc. Few insects are as variable as this one. The males are distinguished by the enormous jaws which give the insect its resemblance to a stag. This sex varies from 30 mm. to 70 mm. in length in this country, the real giants being found in Eastern Europe and Asia Minor where they may reach a length of over 90 mm. As well as simply varying in size, there is a great Variation in the development of the jaws (from 5 mm. to 38 mm.) with a corresponding Variation in the development of the head, the larger males acquiring great ridges for the insertion of the jaw muscles. So different are individual specimens that no fewer than forty-seven " species " have been described from Europe. Modern opinion tends to reduce these to three, of which only one is found in Britain. Yet even these three (L. cervus, L. orientalis, and L. tetraodon) may only be varieties of a single species, since although the males are reasonably distinct, the females are almost indistinguishable. The female Stage Beetle, appropriately known by the French as " la Grande Biche "—the Great Hind, is quite different from the male in shape—so much so that eighteenth Century authors believed it to be a separate species. The main difference lies in the absence of antler-like jaws, but it also differs in other body proportions such as the legs. Like the male it varies in size, but not so much—in this case from 25 mm.to 45 mm. in length. The eggs are laid in rotting wood. It is said that the preference is for Oak, but young stages have been found in very many different timbers. The larva is a C-shaped whitish creature, recalling an overgrown maggot, which in its life of four to five years grows