stag beetle
noun
: any of a family (Lucanidae) of mostly large beetles having males with long and often branched mandibles suggesting the antlers of a stag
Examples of stag beetle in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
Clash of the Titans by Svetlana Ivanenko Russian photographer Svetlana Ivanenko impressed the judges with her striking photo of two male stag beetles (Lucanus cervus) duking it out for mating rights in an oak forest.
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Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Jan. 2025
In one iconic sequence, the team used black lighting to attract nocturnal insects like fireflies and stag beetles.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Much of the stag beetle's lifecycle is spent underground as a white grub molting into larger and larger forms before hatching in two to three years during the summer.
—Ars Technica, 14 Jan. 2025
So, too, palm-size rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles.
—Matt Alt, The New Yorker, 13 May 2020
Biologists say that these fantastic shapes—from the giant curved tusks of woolly mammoths to the nightmarish jaws of stag beetles—evolved to ward off competition from rival males and to impress females.
—Kendall Powell, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2019
London's population of nine million people live along 15,000 other species, such as eight types of bats hanging around nature reserves, deer roaming parks, and the largest population of stag beetles in England hiding in ancient forests.
—Simon Ingram, National Geographic, 26 July 2019
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Sarah Kuta, Smithsonian Magazine, 28 Jan. 2025
In one iconic sequence, the team used black lighting to attract nocturnal insects like fireflies and stag beetles.
—Tony Bradley, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
Much of the stag beetle's lifecycle is spent underground as a white grub molting into larger and larger forms before hatching in two to three years during the summer.
—Ars Technica, 14 Jan. 2025
So, too, palm-size rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles.
—Matt Alt, The New Yorker, 13 May 2020
Biologists say that these fantastic shapes—from the giant curved tusks of woolly mammoths to the nightmarish jaws of stag beetles—evolved to ward off competition from rival males and to impress females.
—Kendall Powell, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2019
London's population of nine million people live along 15,000 other species, such as eight types of bats hanging around nature reserves, deer roaming parks, and the largest population of stag beetles in England hiding in ancient forests.
—Simon Ingram, National Geographic, 26 July 2019
Cite this Entry
“Stag beetle.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/stag%20beetle. Accessed 3 Nov. 2025.
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