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Pseudolucanus placidus - Say, 1825
now
Lucanus placidus [1]
Identification hints:
Very dark reddish brown to black.
19-32 mm long (including the mandibles).
Mandibles with several teeth on inner edge in male, straight and not sharply pointed. The female has smaller pointed jaws, with just one indistinct tooth inside.
This beetle has been found, by site visitors, in Ohio and Minnesota.
Their larvae feed in dead or decaying logs and stumps.
Below are pictures identified with he help of Dr. Frank Guarnieri.
Female Lucanus placidus
Photos by Michele Pitonyak, Conneaut, OH, 10 May 2004.
Things to observe:
Mandibles shorter than the pronutum, with just one inner tooth.
Very developed tibia, females are very good at digging.
Very black underneath, which is a very important identification clue. I've got a hunch that probably some people are mixing them up with the Pinching Bug Lucanus capreolus, but the latter have got golden femurs and their mandibles are quite different. See here for a comparative photo that I've taken with dried specimens.
Male Lucanus placidus
Photo by Rae Ann Gallati, MN, 17 June 2005.
Things to observe:
Mandibles as long as the pronutum, with several inner tooth.
This beetle was found in remarkable circumstances, click on the photo to find out more about it in the Bugguide where I've uploaded a photo-story.
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Photo by Maria Fremlin, 14 February 2006.
Things to observe:
Mandibles as long as the pronutum, with several inner tooth. For more click here.
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It would be lovely to have more finds of this beetle and to know its common names as well.
If you happen to see some, please send me a photo, ideally with a scale like above, plus the location and habitat of your finds. Or else why not showing your finds directly in the Bugguide?
[1] -
Checklist of the Scarabaeoidea of the Nearctic Realm
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