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Sticker of Giraffe stag beetle
Bug card No. 0621 of 1,500

Giraffe stag beetle

Prosopocoilus giraffa
Eats: WoodBeetlesRainforests and jungles6 legs

The giraffe stag beetle is the biggest stag beetle in the world. The male has super long jaws with little teeth, almost half as long as its whole body, like a giraffe's long neck. It uses them to lift other males and throw them away.

Lives in
Damp forests of Asia, from India to Indonesia and the Philippines
Length
12 cm (4.7 in)
Top speed
about 0.69 km/h (0.43 mph)
On foot, estimate
Can it hurt you?
Can bite or sting
It can be grumpy and its big jaws can give a strong pinch. Look at it, but keep your fingers away.
What does it eat?
Like other stag beetles, its larvae grow up inside rotting wood.
For real!Photo of Giraffe stag beetle
Picture by L. Shyamal. CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons.

How big is it?

How long is it?

Giraffe stag beetle about 12 cm long (4.7 in)A toy building brick about 3.2 cm (1.3 in)A crayon about 9 cm (3.5 in)A banana about 18 cm (7.1 in)
as long as 4 toy building bricks in a rowabout as long as your handcould run across a dinner table in 5.2 seconds

How big is Giraffe stag beetle compared to YOU?

Just maths in your browser. Nothing is saved or sent anywhere.

How fast is it?

cool stuff

Fun facts

1

Males fight with their jaws to win a female, a bit like wrestlers.

2

It can grow up to about 12 centimetres long, longer than a grown-up's finger.

3

There are several kinds living on different islands, and one of them has the shiniest wing cases of all.

4

It got its name because its long jaws stick out like a giraffe's neck.

you asked

Most asked questions about Giraffe stag beetle

?How big is the giraffe stag beetle?

It can be up to about 12 centimetres long, which makes it the biggest stag beetle in the world.

?Can a giraffe stag beetle hurt you?

Its jaws can pinch hard, so it is best not to pick it up.

?Where does the giraffe stag beetle live?

In damp forests in Asia, from India to Indonesia.

For bug experts

Scientific name
Prosopocoilus giraffa
Named by
Olivier, 1789
Group
Beetles
Family
Lucanidae
Classification
Insecta > Coleoptera > Lucanidae
Lives on
Asia

Where the facts come from

  1. Prosopocoilus giraffa (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
  2. Picture by L. Shyamal. CC BY-SA 3.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.

If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at hello@bugwiki.app and we will fix it.

More from the same group: Beetles

Also at home here: Rainforests and jungles