Face of Dorcus parallelipipedus, the lesser stag beetle

Both sexes resemble the female stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), though they are a uniformly blackish colour rather than having the chestnut brown wing covers of the larger species. Males have distinctly knobbed antennae, and although their jaws are somewhat larger than those of the females, they are nowhere near as large as those of many other male stag beetles. The lesser stag beetle is similar in appearance to the related antelope beetle (Dorcus parallelus) of North America.

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