If handled carelessly, their pinch can draw blood from a person. Cyclommatus metallifer stag beetles circumvent this trade-off by reducing their bite force when biting with their slender jaw tips. The morphology of these jaws has to be a compromise between robustness (to withstand the bite forces), length and weight. The big unique antenna of the males contains various lamellate plates (Leaf like layers), similar to the rest of the representatives of the genre. Goyens J, Dirckx J, Dierick M, Van Hoorebeke L, Aerts P (2014) Biomechanical determinants of bite force dimorphism in Cyclommatus metallifer stag beetles. J Exp Biol 217:1065–1071. Stag beetles, usually, don”t bite anyone, though they are comparatively bigger in size. We show that male Cyclommatus metallifer stag beetles bite three times as forcefully as females. Lesser stag beetles tend to have a much squarer overall look. Here we describe the functional mechanism behind the force modulation behaviour. Male stag beetle with its striking mouthparts, or mandibles. The morphology of these jaws has to be a compromise between robustness (to withstand the bite forces), length and weight. pmid:24671962 . doi: 10.1242/jeb.091744 Article PubMed Google Scholar Although the mandibles of Cyclommatus metallifer males are used in pugnacious fights, they are surprisingly slender. The beetle most often mistaken for a female stag beetle is the lesser stag beetle. In order to assess the Download our beetle ID guide for a closer look: The genus Cyclommatus also consists of three subgenera: Cyclommatus (Parry, 1863), Cyclommatinus (Didier, 1927) and Cyclommatellus (Nagel, 1936). Cyclommatus metallifer stag beetles circumvent this trade-off by reducing their bite force when biting with their slender jaw tips. It is known that owners of larger fighting apparatuses are favoured to win the male-male fights, but it was unclear whether male stag beetles also need to produce high bite forces while grabbing and lifting opponents in fights. It is endangered and is the UK's biggest terrestrial beetle. Our bite force measurements show a muscle force reduction of 18% for tip biting when compared with bites with the teeth located halfway along the mandibles. The sensors enable stag beetles to modulate their bite force to prevent failure. mandibular apparatus and the bite force in Cyclommatus metallifer Boisduval 1835 stag beetles. Male stag beetles (Lucanidae) use their extremely elongated jaws to pinch their rivals forcefully in male–male battles. J Exp Biol 217: 1065–1071. Cyclommatus is a genus of the family Lucanidae, also known as the stag beetle.The majority of the species from the genus Cyclommatus are located in Southeast Asia, though some species are found in China and Taiwan as well. Stag beetle, (family Lucanidae), also called pinching bug, any of some 900 species of beetles (insect order Coleoptera) in which the mandibles (jaws) are greatly developed in the male and resemble the antlers of a stag.In many species the elaborately branched and toothed mandibles may be as long as the beetle itself. Stag beetles only exists as adults for a … However, lesser stags are black all over with matt wing cases, while female stag beetles have shiny brown wing cases. Goyens J, Dirckx J, Dierick M et al (2014a) Biomechanical determinants of bite force dimorphism in Cyclommatus metallifer stag beetles. Abstract. This Indonesian species belongs to the genus Cyclommatus, which includes (together with the genus Prosopocoilus) stag beetle species with the most oversized male mandibles (Gotoh et al., 2012; Kawano, 2006). Male stag beetles carry large and heavy mandibles that arose through sexual selection over mating rights. View Article PubMed/NCBI Google Scholar 7. 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