''Odontolabis cuvera'', the golden stag beetle, is a

beetle Beetles are insects that form the order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Endopterygota. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 400,000 describ ...

of the family Lucanidae, stag beetles.

Etymology

The Latin species name ''Cuvera'' comes from a mythical king of riches (

Kubera Kubera ( sa, कुबेर, translit=Kuberā) also known as Kuvera, Kuber and Kuberan, is the god of wealth, and the god-king of the semi-divine yakshas in Hinduism. He is regarded as Guardians of the directions, the regent of the north (' ...

or "Kuvera") who lived in the Himalayas.E. A. D'Abre
The beetles of the Himalayas
Calcutta and Simla Thacker, Spink and Co (1915)

List of subspecies

* '' Odontolabis cuvera alticola'' Möllenkamp, 1902 * '' Odontolabis cuvera boulouxi'' Lacroix, 1984 * '' Odontolabis cuvera cuvera'' Hope, 1842 (

Bhutan Bhutan (; dz, འབྲུག་ཡུལ་, Druk Yul ), officially the Kingdom of Bhutan,), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is situated in the Eastern Himalayas, between China in the north and India in the south. A mountainous ...

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

Nepal Nepal (; ne, नेपाल ), formerly the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal ( ne, सङ्घीय लोकतान्त्रिक गणतन्त्र नेपाल ), is a landlocked country in South Asia. It is mai ...

) * '' Odontolabis cuvera fallaciosa'' Boileau, 1901 (

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Laos Laos (, ''Lāo'' )), officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic ( Lao: ສາທາລະນະລັດ ປະຊາທິປະໄຕ ປະຊາຊົນລາວ, French: République démocratique populaire lao), is a socialist ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is bo ...

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

) * '' Odontolabis cuvera gestroi'' Boileau, 1902 (

Myanmar Myanmar, ; UK pronunciations: US pronunciations incl. . Note: Wikipedia's IPA conventions require indicating /r/ even in British English although only some British English speakers pronounce r at the end of syllables. As John C. Wells, Joh ...

) * '' Odontolabis cuvera lunulata'' Lacroix, 1984 * '' Odontolabis cuvera mandibularis'' Möllenkamp, 1909 * '' Odontolabis cuvera sinensis'' Westwood, 1848 (

) Biolib
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Description

''Odontolabis cuvera'' can reach a length (mandibles included) of about in male, of about in females. Moreover, males have a conspicuously elongated and large pair of mandibles. The basic color of the body is black. Elytra have broad orange margins on the outer edge. The female closely resembles the male in coloration but it lacks long mandibles. The remarkably disparity between male and females (

sexual dimorphism Sexual dimorphism is the condition where the sexes of the same animal and/or plant species exhibit different morphological characteristics, particularly characteristics not directly involved in reproduction. The condition occurs in most ani ...

) evolved through sexual selection for securing mating females. The males have also three morphological forms with variations in the size of their mandibles. These three alternative

phenotypes In genetics, the phenotype () is the set of observable characteristics or traits of an organism. The term covers the organism's morphology or physical form and structure, its developmental processes, its biochemical and physiological proper ...

(male

trimorphism {{Expert needed, biology, talk=Trimorphism#This line seems a misreading of Wallace, reason=Darwin might have misread Wallace, date=December 2018 In biology, trimorphism is the existence in certain plants and animals of three distinct forms, especial ...

) in the types of male weapons are considered conditional reproductive strategies. In Lucanidae, there has only been two species described with this trimorphic characteristic as of 2017, with the other one being Dorcus rectus. In the subspecies ''Odontolabis cuvera sinensis'' elytra are almost completely black, with a small orange border. These beetles can reach a length of about .

Life cycle

The females lay their eggs into leaf litter substrate and rotten wood. Larvae build their cave system and stay inside it, feeding for several years on rotting wood.Beetles breeding
/ref>

Distribution

This beetle is native to southeast Asia and it is present in

Gallery

File:Odontolabis cuvera India.jpg, ''Odontolabis cuvera'' from Talakaveri, Coorg File:Odontolabis cuvera sinensis.JPG, ''Odontolabis cuvera sinensis''. A 65 mm long male. File:Odontolabis cuvera sjh.jpg, ''Odontolabis cuvera''. Adult from the

Texas A&M University Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, or TAMU) is a public, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of the Texas A&M University System in 1948. As of late 2021, T ...

Insect Collection in College Station File: OdontolabisCuveraJBNHS.jpg, ''Odontolabis cuvera''. Illustration from the Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society

Monograph

* Lacroix, J.-P., 1984 - ''

The Beetles of the World ''The Beetles of the World'' is a series of books devoted to Coleopterology. Sciences Nat published the 24 first volumes; the following volumes and the supplements were published by Hillside Books, Canterbury. The first book authored by Jacques Ri ...

'', volume 4, Odontolabini I (Lucanidae) - Genera ''Chalcodes'', ''Odontolabis'', ''Heterochtes''. 1984, 175 pg.

References

External links

Large picture of male beetle
{{Taxonbar, from=Q521383 Lucaninae cuvera Beetles described in 1842