Big Bug Summer Continues

A few days ago, I ran into a Stag Beetle (Lucanus capreolus) while arriving to work the graveyard shift. The beetle was similar to one I'd photographed a few years ago. I took a picture, but it didn't compare to a photo snapped by the co-worker I was relieving, who found the beetle on its back and flipped it over with a stick. Check out the mandibles on this critter!

Don't let that mouth fool you, the adults feed on tree sap, and the males use their mandibles to wrestle with other males during the breeding season, like the stags from which they derive their popular name (which refers to their 'antlerlike' antennae).

Once again, this has proven to be a banner season for big bugs... and it only promises to get better!

Bigass Beetle

While on my regular walkabout on the job, I ran across a very large beetle, judging from its size and lovely reddish coloration, I'd have to say it's a Lucanus capreolus- a common Eastern North American stag beetle:

I'd guess that the critter was about two inches long. It was a remarkably patient photographic subject. I guess when you're that formidable looking, you don't have to move quickly.

I'm still amazed at the lovely color of the beast.