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Lesser stag beetles at sap

Lesser stag beetles on a sap run

Lesser stag beetles at a sap site in an oak tree, Knudsskov, Denmark, 15 July 2015. Photo courtesy of Per Christiansen.

This picture shows four lesser stag beetles on a sap run during the day. But before a photo could be taken, three had made a run for it. Once I did an experiment with maple syrup patches on some stumps at the bottom of my garden and the lesser stag beetles, which were rather attracted to the syrup, were also very difficult to catch.

This was a very nice rare find because lesser stag beetles are mostly nocturnal. We are very grateful to Per Christiansen for sharing it with the website. In the past he has also found a female feasting on the carcass of a big beetle, click here to see it. Lesser stag beetles may live for a long time, hence the adults need to feed. For more about their very interesting life cycle visit this page.

Last modified: Sat April 2 2016

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