photo: ELKAPL
photo: Scott Thompson; ~macrojunkie
Habitat: Australia
Status: No Conservation Concerns
This is one of the most gorgeous beetles I’ve ever seen. It’s the Rainbow Stag Beetle (Phalacrognathus muelleri) and its metallic exoskeleton looks like its been handcarved from gold, rubies, emeralds, and sapphires. It’s so breathtakingly beautiful that a lot of people keep these guys as pets, just so that they can constantly admire this wonderful creature. The males even grow pretty large at just under 3 inches in length and can live up to four years.
Like other stag beetles, the Rainbow Stag Beetle uses its formidable jaws to fend off other males during mating season. They’ll also settle disputes over food or other resources by fighting with their mandibles as well.
There are over 1,200 species of stag beetle in the world. This book I have called: The Book of Beetles: A Life-Size Guide to Six Hundred of Nature’s Gems
is where I find these gorgeous creatures. It provides you with a detailed description of each beetle in addition to a life-sized image. It’s so crazy to see how big (or small!) some of these beetles are!
Check out the rainbow stag beetle’s amazing colors in this video, below:
