Eastern American stag beetle
Dorcus brevis
The Eastern American stag beetle is a sturdy beetle with a wide body and short jaws. Its wing cases are smooth. It lives in the woods of the eastern United States.
Lives in
Eastern United States, in woods with old rotting trees
Can it hurt you?
Harmless
Harmless. Look at it gently and let it walk away.
What does it eat?
Its babies, the larvae, live inside old rotting wood and eat it, especially wood of the white oak tree.
How fast is it?
A garden snail about 0.05 km/h (0.03 mph)
A tortoise about 0.3 km/h (0.19 mph)
Eastern American stag beetle about 0.4 km/h (0.25 mph)
A person walking about 5 km/h (3.1 mph)
cool stuff
Fun facts
1
Its jaws are shorter than those of many other stag beetles.
2
The female's jaws have just one little tooth on each side.
3
Its babies grow up inside dead, rotting wood, where they bore little tunnels.
you asked
Most asked questions about Eastern American stag beetle
?Is the Eastern American stag beetle dangerous?
No. It is harmless, but it is best to just watch it.
?What does the Eastern American stag beetle eat?
Its larvae eat old rotting wood, especially from white oak trees.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Dorcus brevis
- Group
- Beetles
- Family
- Lucanidae
- Classification
- Insecta > Coleoptera > Lucanidae
- Lives on
- North America
Where the facts come from
- Dorcus brevis (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Happy1892. CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons. The sticker of this bug is drawn from this picture.
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