Platyceroides pampinatus

Platyceroides pampinatus

stag beetle
Platyceroides sp. stag beetle I'm pretty sure this little guy is a male Platyceroides. He's a stag beetle, but this genus doesn't have the big impressive fighting jaws you'd likely think of. There were many of these flying clumsily around the forest. I was landed on/bumped into lots of times. I'd guess they were out scouting for ladies.. There are about 14 species in the PNW, most on BugGuide don't have much in the way of information or photos. My best guess so far is Platyceroides potax as it definitely occurs in Northern California, but I don't know if any of the others also do, as of yet.

Edit - BugGuide comes through with Platyceroides pampinatus. I'm not sure how the conclusion was reached, but I suspect it may be about location.  Geotagged,Platyceroides pampinatus,Spring,United States

Appearance

allotype female. Length: 10.2 mm. Width: 4.5 mm. Color uniformly dark reddish brown. Differs from male holotype in the following characters. Head: Antennal club small, shorter than length of funicle, antennomeres of club partially glabrous. Mandibles falcate, externally rounded, with basal tooth weakly indicated. Pronotum: Form broader. Elytra: Form less elongate, suboval. Surface with distinct, transverse rugae; distinctly striate on disc; intervals with finer, irregular punctures. Wings: Wings atrophied. Legs: All tibiae distinctly broader, more robust than in male.

Distribution

CALIFORNIA: DEL NORTE: Crescent City; Del Norte Redwoods State Park; Gasquet; Shelly Creek; Van Deventer Park. HUMBOLDT: Eureka; Green Point; Hoopa Road; Korbel; Larabee Valley; Little River; Orick; Patrick’s Point; Prairie Creek. SISKIYOU: Copper Creek; Happy Camp; Hornbrook; Seiad. TRINITY: Forest Glen. OREGON: COOS: Marshfield. CURRY: 6–10 mi. N Brookings (Boardman Park/ Indian Sands/Whaleshead Road); 23 mi NE Brookings; Gold Beach; Cape Blanco State Park; Cape Sebastian State Park; Pistol River; Rogue River. DOUGLAS: Azalea; 5–6 mi. E Elkton; Mill Creek; Scottsburg. JACKSON: 4.4 mi. NW Copper; Squaw Lakes. JOSEPHINE: Oregon Caves National Monument; Selma; Waldo.

References:

Some text fragments are auto parsed from Wikipedia.

https://treatment.plazi.org/id/0382520FFFD0FFB0FF53F771851BFAEE
Taxonomy
KingdomAnimalia
DivisionArthropoda
ClassInsecta
OrderColeoptera
FamilyLucanidae
GenusPlatyceroides
SpeciesPlatyceroides pampinatus