"Lucanus cervus" is the best-known species of stag beetle in the West, and is sometimes referred to simply as the stag beetle. It lives in holes in old trees and dead trunks, in the forest as well as in groves. Forest management, in eliminating old trees and dead wood, eliminates at the same time the habitat and food of this species.
Similar species: Beetles
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Uploaded Nov 9, 2019. Captured Jun 21, 2019 15:03.
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Yes, the entire life cycle can take more than ~6 years. After the females lay their eggs on decaying wood deep in the soil, the larvae feed mostly on rotting wood. After several instar, the larvae can take 4 to 6 years to become pupae. After a few months they emerge in spring-summer depending on location. Adults can live for a few months, feeding on nectar and tree sap.
Only oak forests with a good level of conservation offer conditions for this species to endure. This is one of the reasons why it is a protected species, as its presence is an excellent indicator of the conservation status of this particular type of habitat, the oak forests. Posted 5 years ago, modified 5 years ago
In the end, insects live as adults much less than as immature. Taking in consideration that the life cycle begins with the egg, meaning that larvae instar, chrysalis, or pupa, are the main part of the cycle so, the remaining short period adult stage is mainly for reproduction, the closing of the life cycle. Even if we think on hemimetabolic, like dragonflies, bugs, grasshoppers, works the same way. The main part of their life cycles depend on molting several times since they hatch the eggs till a final molt that opens this nymph state into the adult stage. There are always exceptions if we think on some that have a strategy for hibernation and can appear at the begging of spring after. Posted 5 years ago