Odontolabis dalmanni intermedia

Thought I'd try sharing a photo or two of my large stag beetle.

Two more photos.

That's neat! Do you breed them?

Yes, my students and I are breeding them in my classroom.

Regiarbol said:

That's neat! Do you breed them?

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This evening I thought I'd try photographing the large male with one of my smaller ones. It is interesting to see how different the mandibles are shaped between the two,

Phil said:

Yes, my students and I are breeding them in my classroom.

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I'm still bummed I forgot my video camera. Those were incredibly impressive beetles, Phil!

This evening my son & I thought we would try to take some video of the large male with one of the smaller males. I've never really spent much time puting males together, so I was really suprised by how agressive one of the males was. He really had a hold of the other male between the thorax and abdomin and was clamping down hard. Thinking fast I ran a stream of cold water over the agressor to get him to release the other. I'm happy to report that both beetles are fine, but I don't think I'm going to be staging any more beetle battles. In all the excitment I'm not sure if Lucas got much usable video.

Let me know if you want to drop by again with your camera. I'm guessing that my males will hang on for a few more weeks. I think all my females are dead now. Hopefully grubs will start showing up in January or February.

Peter Clausen said:

I'm still bummed I forgot my video camera. Those were incredibly impressive beetles, Phil!

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Wow Amazing lucanid and huge jaws!