Smooth Black Stag Beetle - Lucanus placidus
For today's insect showcase, there are even more pictures to enjoy from that fated late-spring day where these heavily-armored Beetles emerged from their underground pupal casings. In fact, you can spot an emergence hole in picture 2 near a few individuals which were exploring the forest of grass under their tarsal claws and underside. Looking at the emergence hole more closely, it is quite a bit larger compared to the size of the nearby Beetles, so it's possible that the hole was actually a Cicada's first, and the Beetles just happened to be nearby. Nevertheless, the Beetles are here, so they certainly have emergence holes somewhere nearby, and now that they have the joy to behold the world above. As mentioned in earlier posts, now that the adult Beetles are active on the surface, their focus goes into finding a mate, and for which males will grapple and grip other males with their mandibles. The largest and strongest Beetles will prevail, but it takes a lot of effort to assure that. It's not simply the effort that must be made in their adult forms, but also in their larval stage.
Whether they know it or not, in order to grow strong these Stag Beetle larva will need to scrape up and eat massive amounts of decaying wood and plant matter. This also means the occasional taste of old plant roots as well, but old hardwood logs would make a better meal. If you're curious as to what the larvae might look like (since they aren't pictured here), you'll have to look underground in order to find them. From the images I've seen, the larva of this Stag species can be compared to the larvae of May Beetles (one of the many Scarab Beetles) in times of form and overall appearance. However, the larval Smooth Black Stags appear to be more stout and carry more gray patches along their abdomen. As well, get a close look at the orange dots lining the side of their larva's body; the spiracles will have a more defined "c" shape, rather than the more circular appearance of the May Beetle larva's spiracles. A word of advice though, many similar Beetle larva will demonstrate the latter feature, so take care in identification based on which adult Beetles you find in your area. For example, Japanese Beetle larva - another variety of Ontario Scarab - also feature the "c" shape in their spiracles, but their more reddish face makes them unmistakable. Frankly, I'd like to compare the larvae of this Stag to another Stag Beetle which calls my neighborhood its home: the Antelope Beetle. Hopefully that's a post for another time, and hopefully I can find another early emergence of these insects. I'd love to get a new close look at some new Beetles.
Pictures were taken on June 3, 2021 with a Google Pixel 4.
