Big Beetles

Female and male Reddish-brown Stag Beetles/Lucanus capreolus showing up at the BBC’s bug expo in Prospect Park.

There were a couple males: one landed on this guy and hung around a while…

The next day, I found some Broad-necked Root Borers/Prionus laticollis making more of themselves. Note how much smaller the male is but how much more elaborate his antennae are: he’s gotta find her in woods whose ground is covered in old leaves. (An American Robin almost interrupted his career while he was flying around trying to find the female.)

Before they mated, the female had her long ovipositor out. I wonder if this is also a phermone transitter?

These are probably the largest beetles found in Brooklyn, NY.