Dorcus rectus explained

Dorcus rectus, the little stag beetle, is a species of beetles in the family Lucanidae. It can be found in China(Liaoning), Korea, Japan, Taiwan and Russia.^{[1] [2]} These beetles have a distinctive red shell that separates them from Dorcus curvidens. Males of this species have been observed to have mandible trimorphism,^[3] a characteristic that has only been described in two species of Lucanidae—with the other one being Odontolabis cuvera—"and a small number of other invertebrates" as of 2017.^[4] The mandibles are used by males as weapons.^[4]

Notes and References

1. https://www.catalogueoflife.org/annual-checklist/2019/details/species/id/bdb1bd7d8053fbf6942e79f2980bb1d2 Catalogue of Life: 2019 Annual Checklist
2. Matsuoka . Norimasa . Hosoya . Tadatsugu . Hamaya . Tsuyoshi . Abe . Azuma . Phylogenetic Relationships Among Four Species of Stag Beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) Based on Allozymes . Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology . February 1998 . 119 . 2 . 401 . 10.1016/S0305-0491(97)00366-0 . 31 December 2021.
3. Iguchi . Yutaka . Male mandible trimorphism in the stag beetle Dorcus rectus (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) . European Journal of Entomology . 2013 . 110 . 1 . 159–163 . 10.14411/eje.2013.022. free .
4. Matsumoto . Keita . Knell . Robert . Diverse and complex male polymorphisms in Odontolabis stag beetles (Coleoptera: Lucanidae) . Scientific Reports . December 1, 2017 . 7 . 1 . 16733 . 10.1038/s41598-017-17115-5 . 29196728 . 5711891 . 2017NatSR...716733M .