stag beetle

noun

: any of a family (Lucanidae) of mostly large beetles having males with long and often branched mandibles suggesting the antlers of a stag

Examples of stag beetle in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

So, too, palm-size rhinoceros beetles and stag beetles. —Matt Alt, The New Yorker, 13 May 2020

Biologists say that these fantastic shapes—from the giant curved tusks of woolly mammoths to the nightmarish jaws of stag beetles—evolved to ward off competition from rival males and to impress females. —Kendall Powell, Scientific American, 24 Dec. 2019

London's population of nine million people live along 15,000 other species, such as eight types of bats hanging around nature reserves, deer roaming parks, and the largest population of stag beetles in England hiding in ancient forests. —Simon Ingram, National Geographic, 26 July 2019

Nearly 15,000 species live there, including eight species of bats, the largest population of stag beetles in England, and hundreds of bird species. —Stephen Leahy, National Geographic, 19 July 2019

Spiky-antennaed stag beetles sit on loaves of bread and bunches of grapes on a dining-room table. —Susan Dunne, courant.com, 6 June 2019

Word History

First Known Use

1681, in the meaning defined above