Stag Beetles

[derrick]

My gardens full of stag Beetles i think its the dead oak i have

[billdango]

My gardens full of stag Beetles i think its the dead oak i have

loads here as well, i found over a dozen male specimens last month and a few of the females [your picture]
remember the stag beatle is classed as rare so is a protected species?.
rgds billdango.

[Mr List]

cool, if you have to have bugs might aswell be exotic-y ones

[kata]

[derrick]

Very rare now Stag Beetles males have the bigger jaws They crack me up how they fly into stuff .The larvae look ugly big grubs under the ground

[Petefree]

I've seen more in my garden this summer too. They are very impressive although it is like being hit by a small, spiky helicopter if they fly into you at night.
They do have some limited protection (it's illegal to trade in them under the Wildlife & Countryside Act 1981, Schedule 5, Section 9 (5)), but probably not enough considering they are scarce on a global scale.
They certainly don't pose any threat to garden plants as the grubs feed exclusively on already dead and decaying wood.