Stag beetle larva, Lucanus cervus
The larval stage of a stag beetle is the longest stage of its life, taking between 3 and 7 years. In that time, the larva grows from a small, fragile grub into a large, white larva with 6 orange legs and up to 80mm in length. It lives underground and feeds on decaying wood. Stag beetles are mainly found in southern England and are in serious decline on mainland Europe. The People’s Trust for Endangered species keeps a national database of stag beetle records and can be contacted through the Great Stag Hunt website: http://www.greatstaghunt.org/
