Nobody knows for sure how long it takes in the wild for a stag beetle (Lucanus cervus L.) to complete its life cycle, their life underground is very mysterious.
Below is a diagram attempting to illustrate their life cycle. To view it just move the mouse pointer over the numbers. This way you can see the corresponding text appear in the box on the right hand-side of the life cycle.
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Stag beetles - All they need is love and wood
PS: The duration of this life cycle was based on results from the Dutch posts experiment - artificial oak nests where adult stag beetles were found within four years.
Other information was from personal observations and from the following reference:
The Private Life of the Stag Beetle (Lucanus cervus), by Deborah Harvey and Alan Gange in The Bulletin of the Amateur Entomologists' Society, 2003, Volume 62, Number 451, 240 - 244.
Note: This life cycle was designed by Maria Fremlin, and illustrated by Carim Nahaboo.
It has attracted some attention; several people have asked for permission to include it in teaching books, etc. and this has been a very good reward for our efforts. Thank you for your interest!
Last modified: Tue Apr 13 11:21:04 BST 2010
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