Stag beetle

Description:

Adults appear during late May to the beginning of August, being most active in the evenings. Females lay their eggs in a piece of decaying wood deep in the soil. The resemblance of the male's mandibles to the horns of a stag, and their use in combat between males, much like with deer, gives the species its scientific and common names.

Notes:

Once quite common, the population of the L. cervus, along with that of other species of beetles which feed on dead wood, is in decline, and is now listed as a globally threatened/declining species. I often find dead specimen of L. cervus.