Cottonwood Stag Beetle

Lucanus mazama · Order: Coleoptera · Family: Lucanidae

No source yet on danger. We have no source yet on whether it bites, stings or damages anything.
Cottonwood Stag Beetle
Photo: Wendy McCrady, CC BY

The cottonwood stag beetle belongs to the Lucanidae family. It lives mainly in the western and southwestern United States and is often found in wood-chip ground covering at playgrounds.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it comes from

Their range is primarily the western and southwestern United States.

Source: Wikipedia

Where it is found in the US

Recorded in 5 of 51 states and DC. Most records: Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada.

Darker = more records. Counts are museum and citizen-science records, not population size.

Source: GBIF

Status: native in North America. Source: iNaturalist

Months it is reported in the US

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Source: GBIF

More photos

Cottonwood Stag Beetle photo 2
Photo: iNaturalist user, CC0
Cottonwood Stag Beetle photo 3
Photo: Parker James Lloyd, CC BY
Cottonwood Stag Beetle photo 4
Photo: Daughter Dad, CC BY
Cottonwood Stag Beetle photo 5
Photo: Daughter Dad, CC BY

Same family (Lucanidae)

European Stag BeetleEuropean Stag BeetleLucanus cervusLesser Stag BeetleLesser Stag BeetleDorcus parallelipipedusReddish-brown Stag BeetleReddish-brown Stag BeetleLucanus capreolusDamages trees, gardens or cropsGolden Stag BeetleGolden Stag BeetleLamprima aurataAntelope BeetleAntelope BeetleDorcus parallelusLittle Stag BeetleLittle Stag BeetleDorcus rectus

Sources

  • Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucanus_mazama

Look it up elsewhere: GBIF · iNaturalist · BugGuide · ITIS · Wikipedia

Text written 2026-10-24 from the sources above and checked sentence by sentence against them. Data fetched 2026-10-24.

How this page works

This is one bug's fact sheet. The colored box at the top says whether it is dangerous. Sections below cover how to recognize it, whether it is a pest, and how to deal with it. The US map shows which states have records; tap a state to see other bugs there.

Every fact on Bug FAQ comes from a named source (university extension sites, government agencies, GBIF, iNaturalist, Wikipedia). The source is linked next to each section. If we have no source for something, we leave it out.