Giraffe Stag Beetle

Name for a species of stag beetle in the Lucanidae family, with the scientific names Cladognathus giraffa and Prosopocoilus giraffa. It is the world's largest saw-tooth stag beetle, with long and partly serrated and notched jaws, used mainly for defence. The Giraffe Stag Beetle lives across southern and southeastern Asia, extending its range from Nepal and India to Indochina, Indonesia and the Philippines. Males grow up to around 11 centimeters in length and have jaws of about 4 centimeter, whilst females are only 3.1 to 4.8 centimeters in length. Both sexes are overall black in colour. A male Giraffe Stag Beetle is depicted on a Thai postage stamp of 2001 (fig.). In Thai, this species is known as duang kihm yihrahf, i.e. ‘giraffe pliers-beetle’. 回