Platycerus spinifer
Platycerus spiniger
Platycerus spiniger is a species of polyphagous Coleoptera insect in the Lucanidae family. The scientific authority of the species is Schaufuss, having been described in the year 1862. It is a species present in Portuguese territory. This species is endemic to the Iberian Peninsula.
This is an obligate saproxylic species. Towards the Mediterranean part of its distribution in Spain, it is present mainly in mountains above 700 and often 1,000 m; in the north-western part of Spain it is also present at lower altitude, even below 100 m (A. Quirós pers. comm. 2009, M. Méndez pers. obs. 2009).
P. spinifer lives in forests (beech Fagus and oak Quercus) but also in shrubby vegetation with Cytisus spp. that are known to grow in degraded habitats (in north-western part of Spain) or Retama sphaerocarpa (in Mediterranean part) (A. Quirós pers. comm. 2009). Habitat preferences, however, have not been systematically assessed.
This is an obligate saproxylic species. Towards the Mediterranean part of its distribution in Spain, it is present mainly in mountains above 700 and often 1,000 m; in the north-western part of Spain it is also present at lower altitude, even below 100 m (A. Quirós pers. comm. 2009, M. Méndez pers. obs. 2009).
P. spinifer lives in forests (beech Fagus and oak Quercus) but also in shrubby vegetation with Cytisus spp. that are known to grow in degraded habitats (in north-western part of Spain) or Retama sphaerocarpa (in Mediterranean part) (A. Quirós pers. comm. 2009). Habitat preferences, however, have not been systematically assessed.