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This beetle, nicknamed Chuck by my young son, would not stay away from our campfire no matter how hard we tried. Ultimately, the warmth and light were too much for Chuck to resist. However Chuck did survive, because we found him a second time enjoying our campfire again, 60 miles away at Saddlebag Lake (elev. over 10,000 ft.).
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With baboon dung
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Slo.: roga, kleman - Habitat: grassland, pasture, near mixed woods with Fagus sylvatica, Ostrya carpinifolia and Picea abies dominant trees; poorly maintained forest; locally flat terrain, colluvial, skeletal, calcareous ground; relatively warm place, in shade; elevation 600 m (1.970 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. Comment: Lucanus cervus is Central and South European species. It is probably the most attractive beetle of Europe. It can reach up to 8 cm in length. The male's huge 'jaws' (antlers, mandibles) give it a fierce appearance. In reality the mandibles are too weak to seriously injure one's finger. They are used in courtship displays and wrestling with other males much like with deer. Much more 'dangerous' are female's jaws in spite of the fact that they are much smaller (biological dimorphism). They can indeed inflict a painful bite. The larvae of the stag beetle live within rotting logs very long - up to five years before pupating. Contrary, pupas and adults live much shorter time, from a few weeks to few months only. The natural reaction of the beetle to an approach is to remain motionless. Hence they are benevolent objects for photographers. When I was young, spending my holidays in Bohinj Mountains of Julian Alps, I was seeing several stag beetles every year. Now before this find I haven't see it for last six or seven years. The population of this beetle is shrinking drastically in many places. It is already extinct in Denmark.Registered in the second appendix of the Habitats Directive of the European Union from 1992. The species is also registered in the third appendix of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Berne convention) of 1982.Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogroenih rastlinskih in ivalskih vrst v rdei seznam, Uradni list RS, t. 82/2002 (Regulation of enlisting of endangered plant and animal species onto Red List, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 82/2002) (2002).Ref.:(1) H.Garms, L. Borm, Fauna Europas, Georg Westermann Verlag (1977), translated to Slovenian; ivalstvo Evrope, Mladinska Knjiga (1981), p 382.(2) http://www.kerbtier.de/Pages/Themenseiten/enHirschkaefer.html(3) http://www.natura2000.si/uploads/tx_library/Priloga_5a_1351_bionomics_and_distribution_01.pdf
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Slo.: roga, kleman - Habitat: grassland, pasture, near mixed woods with Fagus sylvatica, Ostrya carpinifolia and Picea abies dominant trees; poorly maintained forest; locally flat terrain, colluvial, skeletal, calcareous ground; relatively warm place, in shade; elevation 600 m (1.970 feet); average precipitations ~ 3.000 mm/year, average temperature 7-9 deg C, alpine phytogeographical region. Comment: Lucanus cervus is Central and South European species. It is probably the most attractive beetle of Europe. It can reach up to 8 cm in length. The male's huge 'jaws' (antlers, mandibles) give it a fierce appearance. In reality the mandibles are too weak to seriously injure one's finger. They are used in courtship displays and wrestling with other males much like with deer. Much more 'dangerous' are female's jaws in spite of the fact that they are much smaller (biological dimorphism). They can indeed inflict a painful bite. The larvae of the stag beetle live within rotting logs very long - up to five years before pupating. Contrary, pupas and adults live much shorter time, from a few weeks to few months only. The natural reaction of the beetle to an approach is to remain motionless. Hence they are benevolent objects for photographers. When I was young, spending my holidays in Bohinj Mountains of Julian Alps, I was seeing several stag beetles every year. Now before this find I haven't see it for last six or seven years. The population of this beetle is shrinking drastically in many places. It is already extinct in Denmark. Registered in the second appendix of the Habitats Directive of the European Union from 1992. The species is also registered in the third appendix of the Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats (Berne convention) of 1982. Pravilnik o uvrstitvi ogroenih rastlinskih in ivalskih vrst v rdei seznam, Uradni list RS, t. 82/2002 (Regulation of enlisting of endangered plant and animal species onto Red List, Official Gazette of Republic Slovenia, no. 82/2002) (2002). Ref.: (1) H.Garms, L. Borm, Fauna Europas, Georg Westermann Verlag (1977), translated to Slovenian; ivalstvo Evrope, Mladinska Knjiga (1981), p 382. (2) http://www.kerbtier.de/Pages/Themenseiten/enHirschkaefer.html (3) http://www.natura2000.si/uploads/tx_library/Priloga_5a_1351_bionomics_and_distribution_01.pdf
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Attracted to a light trap at the northern terminus of Farmer Road, Julian, California in the hour before dawn in light rain. Later that day it was photographed in Cuyamaca Woods, Julian.
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Specimen collected February 12, 1972 by P. Tuskes.
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Image taken with StackShot rail and rendered with Helicon Focus
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Image taken with StackShot rail and rendered with Helicon Focus
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Phall. muelleri