Odontolabis cuvera, the golden stag beetle, is a beetle of the family Lucanidae, stag beetles.
Etymology The Latin species name Cuvera comes from a mythical king of riches (Kubera or "Kuvera") who lived in the Himalayas.E. A. D'Abreu 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, India, Nepal) Odontolabis cuvera fallaciosa Boileau, 1901 (China, Laos, Thailand, Vietnam) Odontolabis cuvera gestroi Boileau, 1902 (India, Myanmar) Odontolabis cuvera lunulata Lacroix, 1984 Odontolabis cuvera mandibularis Möllenkamp, 1909 Odontolabis cuvera sinensis Westwood, 1848 (China) Biolib
Description Odontolabis cuvera can reach a length (mandibles included) of about in male, of about in females.Beetle Space 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) evolved through sexual selection for securing mating females.K Kawano Developmental Stability and Adaptive Variability of Male Genitalia in Sexually Dimorphic Beetles The American Naturalist - The University of Chicago The males have also three morphological forms with variations in the size of their mandibles. These three alternative phenotypes (male trimorphism) in the types of male weapons are considered conditional reproductive strategies.J. Mark Rowland and Douglas J. Emlen Two Thresholds, Three Male Forms Result in Facultative Male Trimorphism in Beetles Science 6 February 2009: Vol. 323 no. 5915 pp. 773-776Frederick William Hope (1842) On some rare and beautiful coleopterous insects from Silhet, the major part belonging to the collection of Frederic Parry, Esq., of Cheltenham Annals and Magazine of Natural History, The Linnaean Society, Vol. 9, pg. 247-248 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 .Insect Life Forms
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
Distribution This beetle is native to southeast Asia and it is present in Bhutan, China, India, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Thailand, Vietnam.
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Monograph Lacroix, J.-P., 1984 - The Beetles of the World, volume 4, Odontolabini I (Lucanidae) - Genera Chalcodes, Odontolabis, Heterochtes. 1984, 175 pg.
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