Female Stag Beetle (+2 PiPs)

Beautiful close-up; looks quite scary.
Stay safe and healthy.

Oh Keith, be careful with that. Did it hook on to you?
Many many years ago when I lived in London, we had an air raid shelter in the back garden, and they used to have a nest in there. At that time they were mostly confined to south east London, and Kent. I knew someone , back in the 60's who had a stag beetle hook on to his finger. There was NO way that beetle was going to let go. The only thing that eventually removed it was boiling water.....Yes boiling !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lesson learnt !!!!
◦•●◉✿ Have a great weekend, and stay safe and well.✿◉●•◦

I've been picking these up for years without ill effects June, so no harm done to either of us.

Sacred scarab on a stunning salmon colour silk!!
Extraordinary beauty!
Superb captures wonderfully shown, Keith!

A very beautiful insect.

Very impressive

MOOI WEEKEND -KEITH ---Mooie Foto

Wow! You can see why they are called stag beetles Keith! I think it's the male ones with the huge antlers! I can't remember the last time I saw one but it must have been a long time ago. Fascinating to see them in such detail. A superb set of pictures.
Take care and have a good weekend.

The last time I found one of these was in 2018 and that was a female as well. I have a log pile in the garden, which I suspect is where both came from. Hopefully there will be a male lurking around somewhere.

Glad you like the photos.

beautiful finfd Keith
they are very rare here

Terrific photos Keith. You've captured the stag beetle's detail brilliantly.

Three fine captures.

Fantastic macros...

Thank you all very much for your kind comments and stars. Much appreciated. I hope you all have a super weekend.

Ein ganz besonderer Fund, sehr gut präsentiert, auch in den PiPs!

Thanks very much Wilhelm.............much appreciated.

Wow, great shots! I've never seen one, and if I did I wouldn't pick it up. ;-o

Thanks Diane. These beetle are in decline at the moment, so it's always nice to see them. This is a female but the males have "antlers" about an inch long! Quite spectacular..........but completely harmless to us humans.

I have a pile of logs in my garden specifically to attract them as they lay their eggs in rotting wood. It's been about 3 years since I've seen one though.

Noch nie einen gesehen ... Toll!

Thanks Frank.........glad you like it.

I have to say that I was an inquisitive child, always turning things over in the garden to look at the insect life there, and so on and so forth. I therfore used to see loads of stag beetles. Cut forward to when I got stuck into gardening in later years and I haven't seen a single stag beetle to ths day (so loads until about age 10 and none since!) I haven't heard that they are in decline but where have they all gone!
Anyway a fine capture, Keith!