''Phalacrognathus muelleri'', colloquially known as the rainbow stag beetle, and also the king, magnificent or Mueller's stag beetle, is a species of

beetle Beetles are insects that form the Taxonomic rank, order Coleoptera (), in the superorder Holometabola. Their front pair of wings are hardened into wing-cases, elytra, distinguishing them from most other insects. The Coleoptera, with about 40 ...

in the family

Lucanidae Stag beetles comprise the family Lucanidae. It has about 1,200 species of beetles in four subfamilies.Smith, A.B.T. (2006). A review of the family-group names for the superfamily Scarabaeoidea (Coleoptera) with corrections to nomenclature and a c ...

. It is found in northern

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu: ''Niu Gini''; , fossilized , also known as Papua or historically ) is the List of islands by area, world's second-largest island, with an area of . Located in Melanesia in the southwestern Pacific Ocean, the island is ...

. It can come in red, green, black, and blue forms. It is the only species in its genus, ''Phalacrognathus'', which is closely related to the genus '' Lamprima''. ''Phalacrognathus muelleri'' has been the official symbol of the Entomological Society of Queensland since 1973.

Etymology

In 1885 the species was named ''Phalacrognathus muelleri'' by Sir William Macleay in honour of Baron

Ferdinand von Mueller Baron Sir Ferdinand Jacob Heinrich von Mueller, (; 30 June 1825 – 10 October 1896) was a German-Australian physician, geographer, and most notably, a botanist. He was appointed government botanist for the then colony of Victoria, Australia ...

, the Victorian Government Botanist. The genus ''Phalacrognathus'' was created at the same time.

Description

Males of ''Phalacrognathus muelleri'' are the largest members of the family Lucanidae in Australia. Males range from in length, whereas the smaller females range from . their beautiful colours fade after death and are difficult to photograph. Phalacrognathus muelleri.jpg, Male Phalacroganthus muelleri GLAM muséum Lille 2016.JPG, Male, another view ( Musée d'Histoire Naturelle de Lille)

Breeding

This species breeds in wet tropical areas. Up to 50 eggs can be laid by a female and these will take 10 to 14 days to hatch. The larva can be seen in the egg before emerging. The larvae are found in wet and rotting wood often in close proximity to white rot fungi and can take up to three years to mature. Examples of fungi found proximate to breeding sites are: ''

Ganoderma applanatum ''Ganoderma applanatum'' (the artist's bracket, artist's conk, artist's fungus or bear bread) is a bracket fungus with a cosmopolitan distribution. Description ''Ganoderma applanatum'' is parasitic and saprophytic, and grows as a mycelium with ...

'' (Pers.) Patouillard, '' Nigrofomes melanoporus'' (Mont.) Murr., '' Phellinus'' nr. ''glaucescens'' (Petch) Ryvarden; '' Phellinus robustus'' (P. Karst) Baird, & Galz., '' Phellinus'' - 3 spp., and '' Pycnoporus'' sp.

Subspecies

The species is divided into the following two subspecies: * ''Phalacrognathus muelleri muelleri'' — Queensland, Australia * ''Phalacrognathus muelleri fuscomicans'' — New Guinea

References

External links

Photos of ''Phalacrognathus muelleri''
Beetles described in 1885 Beetles of Oceania Lampriminae {{Lucanidae-stub