Lucanidae Checklist: Stag Beetles
Stag Beetles from the family Lucanidae are strikingly charismatic beetles, easily recognised by the males’ oversized, antler-like jaws that resemble a stag’s horns. These impressive mandibles are used not for feeding, but for wrestling rivals during battles for mates or territory.
Etymology
The family name Lucanidae comes from the genus name Lucanus, which in Latin, likely refers to Lucania, an ancient region in Italy where these beetles were worn as protective amulets for infants to ward off diseases, as recorded by Pliny the Elder.
References
- Bosuang, Chung & Chan, 2017: A Guide to Beetles of Borneo
- Zhang, 2018: A Field Guide to the Fauna of Mt. Trusmadi （特鲁斯马迪山动物图典)
Checklist
This page consists of a personal checklist of all Stag Beetles (Lucanidae) that I’ve encountered over the years. Most were identified with the help from the kind folks on Flickr, Facebook and iNaturalist, and cross-referenced with relevant literature.
All photos are of live subjects shot in the field, with the dorsal view selected where available. Click on individual photos for larger views and views from other angles. As specimens were not collected, identifications were done purely based on photographs and may not be 100% accurate.
This page will be updated regularly, please let me know if you spot any mistakes.
View my complete Flickr photo set: Lucanidae – Stag Beetles.
Region Filters
Click on any region to show only records from that region.
Class: Insecta Linnaeus, 1758
Order: Coleoptera Linnaeus, 1758
Superfamily: Scarabaeoidea Latreille, 1802
Family: Lucanidae Latreille, 1804
Subfamily: Lucaninae Latreille, 1804
Tribe: Aegini Maes, 1992
Genus: Aegus MacLeay, 1819
Singapore: Aegus parallelus (Hope & Westwood, 1845) ♂
West Malaysia: Aegus sp. DSC_4701
Singapore: Aegus sp. ESC_0452
Tribe: Allotopini Maes, 1992
Genus: Allotopus Albers, 1894
East Malaysia: Allotopus moellenkampi (Fruhstorfer, 1894) ♂
East Malaysia: Allotopus moellenkampi (Fruhstorfer, 1894) ♀
Tribe: Figulini Burmeister, 1847
Genus: Figulus Macleay, 1819
Singapore: Figulus delicatus Bomans, 1987
Tribe: Lucanini Latreille, 1804
Genus: Cyclommatus Parry, 1863
West Malaysia: Cyclommatus lunifer Boileau, 1905 ♂
East Malaysia: Cyclommatus lunifer Boileau, 1905 ♂
East Malaysia: Cyclommatus lunifer Boileau, 1905 ♀
Indonesia (Sulawesi): Cyclommatus metallifer (Boisduval, 1835) ♂
Genus: Dorcus MacLeay, 1819
East Malaysia: Dorcus reichei Hope, 1842 ♀
East Malaysia: Dorcus ritsemae ssp. volscens Didier & Séguy, 1952 ♂
West Malaysia: Dorcus ritsemae ssp. volscens Didier & Séguy, 1952 ♀
Genus: Foraminis Nagai, 2010
East Malaysia: Foraminis perforatus ssp. sabanus Nagai, 1994 ♀
Genus: Gnaphaloryx Burmeister, 1847
East Malaysia: Gnaphaloryx capreolus (Boileau, 1903) ♀
Indonesia (Kalimantan): Gnaphaloryx opacus Burmeister, 1847 ♀
Genus: Hexarthrius Hope, 1843
East Malaysia: Hexarthrius mandibularis ssp. mandibularis Deyrolle, 1881 ♂
East Malaysia: Hexarthrius mandibularis ssp. mandibularis Deyrolle, 1881 ♀
Genus: Prosopocoilus Westwood, 1845
Thailand: Prosopocoilus astacoides ssp. fraternus Hope, 1845 ♂
East Malaysia: Prosopocoilus flavidus (Parry, 1862) ♂
West Malaysia: Prosopocoilus occipitalis Hope & Westwood, 1845 ♂
Indonesia (Sumatra): Prosopocoilus occipitalis Hope & Westwood, 1845 ♀
West Malaysia: Prosopocoilus taronii ♀
East Malaysia: Prosopocoilus tigrinus Didier, 1928 ♀
East Malaysia: Prosopocoilus zebra (Olivier, 1789) ♀
Genus: Serrognathus Motschulsky, 1861
East Malaysia: Serrognathus taurus ssp. subtaurus Maes, 1992 ♂
Tribe: Odontolabini Parry, 1870
Genus: Neolucanus Araya & Tanaka, 1998
Thailand: Neolucanus suzumurai Fujita, 2010
junior synonym for
Neolucanus chiangmaiensis Schenk, 2006
Genus: Odontolabis Hope, 1842
East Malaysia: Odontolabis brookeana (Vollenhoven, 1861) ♂
East Malaysia: Odontolabis brookeana (Vollenhoven, 1861) ♀
East Malaysia: Odontolabis imperialis ssp. imperialis Möllenkamp, 1904 ♂
East Malaysia: Odontolabis imperialis ssp. imperialis Möllenkamp, 1904 ♀
East Malaysia: Odontolabis sommeri ssp. lowei Parry, 1873 ♂
West Malaysia: Odontolabis femoralis ssp. femoralis Waterhouse, 1887 ♀
Tribe: Platycerini Mulsant, 1842
Genus: Platycerus Geoffroy, 1762
Netherlands: Platycerus caraboides (Linnaeus, 1758)
