Biology:Platycerus caraboides

Short description: Species of beetle

Platycerus caraboides
Platycerus caraboides. Male
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Coleoptera
Family:	Lucanidae
Genus:	Platycerus
Species:	P. caraboides
Binomial name
Platycerus caraboides (Linnaeus, 1758)
Synonyms
Platycerus cribratus Mulsant & Rey, 1863 Systenocerus cribratus (Mulsant & Rey, 1863) Platycerus primigenius E. Weise, 1960

Platycerus caraboides is a species of stag beetle belonging to the family Lucanidae, subfamily Lucaninae.

Subspecies

Subspecies include:

• Platycerus caraboides caerulosus Didier & Ségui, 1953
• Platycerus caraboides caraboides (Linnaeus, 1758)

Distribution

Platycerus caraboides

These beetles are present in most of Europe (Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark , Finland , France , Germany , Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, Netherlands, Norway , Poland , Romania, Russia , Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain , Sweden, Switzerland , Ukraine and United Kingdom ), in Asia (China , Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria, Turkey) and in North Africa (Algeria, Morocco, Tunisia)

Description

Platycerus caraboides can reach a body length of about 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in). These beetles have flat body, metallic black, steel blue or greenish. Antennae are geniculate, with a club of 3 items, Jaws are denticulate at the inner edge and also in the male they are shorter than the head. This species can be easily distinguished as a stag beetle by its geniculate (elbowed) antennae.

This species is very similar to Platycerus caprea (De Geer, 1774).

File:Platycerus caraboides - 2012-05-08.ogv

Biology

Adults can mostly be encountered from May through July, flying around during the day in deciduous forests or staying on the ground on rotten branches. The predominantly host-plants are broadleaf plants, but also conifers (mainly Pinus species). The larvae usually live on decayed wood of oak and beech.

References

• Soortenbank

Wikidata ☰ Q610399 entry