Stag Beetles

The male stag beetle uses it's jaws to pick up other stag beetles and throw them from the tree tops. Why does the beetle do this? Fighting for a mate. If he wins the battle he gets to further pursue the female up into the tree tops. But there's more than one male to battle with before they can reach the female. If the male defeats all the other males he will be able to mate with the female. Once he's mated with her he'll throw her out of the tree tops like he did with the other males. Talk about some anger issues. A male stag beetle may have to throw more than 50 other males from a tree in pursuit of a mate. It may also take days to reach the top of the trees where the female resides. These little beetles are persistent, and will do whatever it takes to get to a mate.


Lab Video - LIFE - Stag Beetle Segment.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/02218/stag-beetles_2218702k.jpg

http://www.naturephoto-cz.com/photos/mraz/stag-beetle-08d240.jpg