About Platycerus caraboides (Linneaus, 1758)
Platycerus caraboides (Linnaeus, 1758) is a species of stag beetle. It can reach a body length of about 9–13 mm (0.35–0.51 in). Individuals of this species have flat bodies that are colored metallic black, steel blue, or greenish. Their antennae are geniculate (elbowed), with a 3-segmented club. Their jaws have small teeth along the inner edge, and even in males, the jaws are shorter than the head. This species can be easily identified as a stag beetle by its elbowed antennae, and it is very similar in appearance to Platycerus caprea (De Geer, 1774). This beetle is distributed across most of Europe, including Albania, Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Republic of North Macedonia, Montenegro, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Ukraine, and the United Kingdom. It is also found in Asia in China, Iran, Kazakhstan, Syria, and Turkey, and in North Africa in Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia.
