Female stag beetle. / Hirschkäferweibchen.

in Fascinating Insects4 years ago (edited)

English


Hello insect lovers! By now I have accumulated a huge amount of photos (and videos, too), but unfortunately, I hadn't enough time to post, which I'd like to catch up on at least in part now.

Even if my wife had already reported on the magnificent female stag beetle, which I would like to portray today, I think that Lucanus cervus as the largest European beetle is so impressive that one cannot show enough photos of it! :)

By the way, although the 'antlers' of a male stag beetle are much larger than the mandibles of the female, the latter can bite much more painfully. The male's jaws are mainly used to fight against rivals competing for a female and to hold on to the chosen one afterwards, during mating, but not for feeding.

The female uses her mouthparts to bite open wounds in the tree bark so that the sap flows out, which the beetles then lick up with their brush-like, yellow tongue.

Deutsch


Hallo Insektenfreunde! Ich habe zwar mittlerweile eine Riesenmenge an Fotos (und auch Videos) angehäuft, hatte aber leider kaum Zeit zum Posten, was ich zumindest teilweise nun nachholen möchte.

Über das prächtige Hirschkäferweibchen, welches ich diesmal porträtieren möchte, hatte bereits meine Frau berichtet, aber ich finde, als größter europäischer Käfer ist Lucanus cervus so beeindruckend, dass man gar nicht genug Fotos davon zeigen kann! :)

Obwohl übrigens das 'Geweih' eines männlichen Hirschkäfers noch deutlich größer ist als die Mandibeln des Weibchens, kann letzteres viel schmerzhafter zubeißen. Die Kiefer des Männchens dienen vor allem dem Kampf gegen um ein Weibchen konkurrierende Nebenbuhler und dazu, die Auserwählte danach, während der Paarung, festzuhalten, nicht aber der Nahrungsaufnahme.

Das Weibchen benutzt ihre Mundwerkzeuge, um Wunden in der Baumrinde aufzubeißen, damit der Saft herausfließt, den die Käfer dann mit ihrer pinselartigen, gelben Zunge auflecken.





Small finger or big beetle? :) Kleiner Finger oder großer Käfer? :)


The reddish brown elytra look almost leathery. Die rotbraunen Flügeldecken wirken fast lederartig.

Here the yellow tongue is clearly visible. Hier ist die gelbe Zunge gut zu erkennen.

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This female stag beetle is very fascinating, especially when seeing it closely via your photos. Great capture!

Ah! It's really huge indeed! Its tongue is amazing and beautiful with bright yellow color. The yellow strips on its body can also make its body look more magnificent. The yellow color contrasts perfectly with the black color of its body.

The information about the purposes of the 'antlers' between the male and female is interesting.

Thanks so much for sharing. I always learned a lot of knowledge from your posts. ;)

When I have a children someday, it will be great to read your post about insects. :)

;-)
You may make a book from it.

hello jaki. The female beetle looks very large. and looks very charming. that's a good catch.

Much smaller jaws than in males but still looking impressive and somewhat menacing :D Can she use them to bite you when she doesn´t feel comfortable?

Can she use them to bite you when she doesn´t feel comfortable?

Yes, these beetles aren't aggressive at all, but if you don't pay enough attention and get bitten by a female stag beetle, that's very painful. However, stag beetles are rather slow animals, so normally that shouldn't happen.

That´s what I thought :) Thanks for the explanation.

I can understand that even though a male beetle's "antlers" are much bigger, they get in the way and take away his strength. Females to power! Heh heh heh, big pictures.

The pictures are super cool and so is the information.

In so einer Nahaufnahme sieht es aus wie ein Monster aus einem Horrorfilm 😅

small finger? no! definitely a big beetle.

i wish our northern nature has them around, but... no. never seen those sympatico critters. the bigger the buggie -- the bigger nicer the macro shots :P

Great capture and nice photography

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