Mr. and Mrs. Stag Beetle in my Kitchen Sink
Location: Chelmsford MA
July 7, 2011 1:37 am
Hi Folks,
I live in Chelmsford, MA. Thanks to your website, I was able to identify these enormous critters in my kitchen sink – I think they are male and female Reddish Brown Stag Beetles.
I have found at least two or these beetles in my kitchen sink every year at about the same time of year (early summer). Yesterday there were three of them in my sink. They must be coming up the drain, because anything that large flying in the house would drive my cats wild.
My questions are:
– Why do they come in to the sink every year?
– Is this normal stag beetle behavior?
– Should I be worried about the condition of my foundation or plumbing?
Your website convinced me that these bugs were worth saving, so I gently set them down in my yard.
Thank you so much for any insight you might be able to give!
Sincerely,
Frances Killam
Thank you for your help,
Frances Killam
Stag Beetles in the Kitchen Sink
Hi Frances,
This is most perplexing. We read your email just prior to closing the offices for the night, and we felt we needed to be rested and refreshed before we tackled a response. After a good night’s sleep, we still don’t have a conclusive answer for you. Stag Beetles do spend their larval stage feeding on rotting wood, so there must be a suitable habitat nearby. We found this marvelous British website Stag Beetles for Everyone that may provide you with some insight. We can’t imagine that the Stag Beetles are entering your home through the drain and we would suspect that they have flown in. Perhaps they are attracted to lights, and if a female arrived first and fell into the sink, her pheromones might attract willing male suitors. The sink is a trap for many creatures, and once inside, they are stuck. Perhaps other Stag Beetles have entered your home and those became cat food. We would also encourage our readership to provide their opinions in our comment section.
3
what is the name of this beetle
Location: Orem, Ut
July 1, 2011 10:02 pm
We found the following beetle on July 1st, in Orem UT, at a public park among the wood chips. It was 7 p.m. at night and there were several of these beetles walking around the wood chips.
Signature: Dante
Cottonwood Stag Beetle
Hi Dante,
This is a male Stag Beetle in the genus Lucanus, but your location in Utah is a bit far west for the species we usually receive. We did some research on BugGuide, and we believe this is a Cottonwood Stag Beetle, Lucanus mazama, and if we are correct, this represents a new species for our website.
Cottonwood Stag Beetle
Daniel,
Wow thanks for getting back so soon.My five year old son is an avid bug lover and he thought it was great that he found these beetles. What’s funny is he insisted that they were a type of stag beetle, but we couldn’t find them on the web. It’s interesting you say they’re a bit far west because we saw between 20-30 in the playground. He’d like to know what they eat. Thank you for your info it’s been helpful.
Dante
Hi again Dante,
We should probably clarify what we meant by our “west” comment. Most of the North American Stag Beetle submissions we receive are from two species, the Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus, and the Giant Stag Beetle, Lucanus elephus. The furthest west we know of for those two species is Texas. Your beetle is a different species, the Cottonwood Stag Beetle, Lucanus mazama, and BugGuide has only received submissions from Arizona and we have never received a submission of that species prior to your letter. You can try feeding your Stag Beetles overly ripe bananas or other very ripe fruit. Stag Beetles are believed to feed on tree sap, but there is not much available information that we are aware of regarding the feeding habits of Stag Beetles in the wild.
We are fascinated by the wood chip connection. We just located these reports from Europe (they have their own species there), that Stag Beetles are being found in places landscaped with wood chips. This is the best article we have read online in a very long time.
2
¶ Posted 01 July 2011 § ‡ ° Staghorn pair
Location: Middlesex County, New Jersey
July 1, 2011 7:28 am
I used your website to identify these beetles.
I thought you might be interested in what I believe to be a male and female Staghorn beetle.
I found these around my home, actually I was alerted by my daughters scream so technically she found them.
Signature: Mark from Woodbridge
Pair of Reddish Brown Stag Beetles
Hi Mark,
We are so excited to be able to post your photos of a pair of Reddish Brown Stag Beetles, Lucanus capreolus. It is also wonderful to have such nice documentation of the sexual dimorphism. The male has the much larger mandibles, and they are allegedly used in sparring contests as males vie for the attention of a female.
Female Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
We hope you released this magnificent pair of Reddish Brown Stag Beetles back into the habitat so that they are able to perpetuate the species. The larvae of Stag Beetles are significant contributors to breaking down rotting wood so that it can be incorporated into soil as humus, thus increasing the fecundity of the soil.
Male Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
3
¶ Posted 01 July 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: bug love Found in Atlanta
Location: American southeast, Atlanta Georgia
June 27, 2011 4:18 pm
Hi Bugman!
I found this beetle near Coca-Cola enterprise’s headquarters in Atlanta, and I have never seen such a bug! It has huge pincers, that come out from either side of its head, running parallel to the ground.
Signature: Thanks!!
Giant Stag Beetle
This is now the third photo of a dead Giant Stag Beetle we have received this year and we only received one submission of a living individual. We hate those odds. Your letter did not indicate if this beetle was alive when you found it. It is a magnificent creature and we can only hope it died of old age.
Giant Stag Beetle
1
¶ Posted 28 June 2011 § ‡ ° Male Stag Beetle – Lucanus Elaphus
Giant Stag Beetle
Male Stag Beetle – Lucanus Elaphus
Location: Newton, North Carolina
June 24, 2011 11:47 pm
This docile little fella came to me a couple of nights ago, so I snapped a few pics of him.
I let him crawl around on me for a while before I tossed him back into the bushes.
Signature: Rick (SCWIDVICIOUS)
Giant Stag Beetle
Hi Rick,
Nice to hear from you again, and we are especially pleased that you are submitting images of a living Giant Stag Beetle since the only two examples we have posted this year have been smashed individuals found in parking lots. It saddens us greatly to think that so many people think it is fine to smash such a magnificent creature.
Giant Stag Beetle
I am glad you like and used the pics 
It is ashamed for sure, I never understood why people want to kill any insect for being an insect, especially ones like this. You can rest well tonight knowing he is out there in the woods happily eating and fighting his buddies like he is meant too..
I will look to see if I can find a female soon.
Have a good evening,
Rick
2
¶ Posted 25 June 2011 § ‡ ° What Kind of Beetle Is This?
Location: Charlotte, NC
June 23, 2011 10:25 am
Found this already stepped on in front of my gym. I brought it home and my girls wanted to know more about it. I have seen large Single Horned ”Rhino” beetles before, but never one with two big horns/pincers like this. It is about 2 in long and 3/4 in wide.
Signature: Daniel
Stag Beetle Carnage
Hi Daniel,
It troubles us immensely to learn about this senseless slaughter. This magnificent beetle is a Giant Stag Beetle, Lucanus elaphus.
1
Flying bronze/black beetle thing with mean pincers
Location: St Louis, MO
June 23, 2011 1:36 am
I live in south St Louis county, MO. Tonight I was sitting on the porch and this really mean looking bug flew up and landed on the screen. He is about 1.5 inches long. I have never seen anything like this before.
Signature: Pam
Reddish Brown Stag Beetle
Hi Pam,
This marvelous beetle is a Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus. Like many insects, they are attracted to porch lights.
1
¶ Posted 23 June 2011 § ‡ ° 100s of stag beetles
Location: Wayne Michigan
June 5, 2011 12:01 am
i have hundreds of stag beetles in my yard. i can step foot in my yard. with out one pinching me. i do not live by woods im actually in the middle of a neighborhood. We have also found 100s in others neighbors yards. i know they are a vital part of mother nature but is there a way to get them to move other then trying to catch them. we have alot of young kids in our neighborhood and they seem to like there toes as well as our curious animals.
Signature: Please Help Me. Sincerly Vanessa
Stag Beetle
Hi Vanessa,
Your email has us most curious. We cannot imagine why you have such an incredible population explosion of Stag Beetles. There must have been a bounteous food source for the larvae which take several years to develop. Stag Beetle Larvae feed on rotting wood. Are there numerous fallen or dead trees in your yard or in the neighborhood? Perhaps you have a large wood pile nearby. While we sympathize with your dilemma, we don’t really have any advice for you. Stag Beetles are not dangerous to humans or pets, and if they do happen to nip at skin, there should not be any lasting effects or any health concern for either you, your children or your pets. We don’t believe your Stag Beetle is the Reddish Brown Stag Beetle, Lucanus capreolus, but rather, we believe that based on BugGuide it is Lucanus placidus which is described as “Similar to L. capreolus, but much darker, elytra more punctate. Legs dark reddish brown, no light brown patches as in capreolus. Several small teeth on inside of mandibles of male–capreolus has only one.” According to BugGuide, the definition is: “punctate – marked by spots, dots, points, depressions, or punctures.” We have used the levels control in PhotoShop to lighten your image to better reveal the texture of the elytra, which appears to be punctate. Your beetle has two distinguishing features for Lucanus placidus, that as well as the toothed mandibles. We wish you could send us a photo of a large group of these Stag Beetles, possibly even a mating pair.
Stag Beetle image lightened to show punctate surface on elytra
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¶ Posted 05 June 2011 § ‡ ° Tagged: mysteries 
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