Stag beetle (local: Ekoxe)

Description:

Largest beetle in Europe; male can be 70 mm, female 40 mm. Adults only eat sap from bleeding oaks. The males can be seen flying between large oaks in sunset, searching for females. The males sometimes fight violently. They occur from May to July.

Habitat:

While the grown up mostly can be seen when creeping on the living oaks (preferably the big ones), the larvae are nourishing on mouldering roots and stumps beneath the soil surface. It takes 4-5 years from egg to adult.