Le Lucane cerf-volant Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) dans l'art et la mythologie

Lucanus cervus, the largest European beetle, has incessantly captured the imagination and fascination of mankind and has been known in Europe since the antiquity. The first written sources, in which it is mentioned, appear in ancient Greece and the last are very recent paintings of male stag beetles from the 21st century, demonstrating a very impressive span for this charismatic beetle. The stag beetle’s popularity is based not only on the mythological tales, but also on its magical powers. By the time, it slowly rid itself of the once assigned symbolic meaning and took on a descriptive and decorative function, finally becoming the favourite subject of many artists. Thanks to its ability to stimulate people’s imagination and to be transformed into a variety of roles, the stag beetle appears even in satirical illustrations. It is included in the repertory of decorative Art Nouveau, on porcelain, on jewellery, on stamps and on a variety of consumer goods.Connu en Europe depuis l'Antiquité, Lucanus cervus, le plus grand Coléoptère européen, a de tout temps captivé l'imagination et fasciné l'humanité. Les premières sources écrites dans lesquelles il est mentionné remontent à la Grèce ancienne et les dernières sont de très récentes peintures de lucanes mâles du 21e siècle, ce qui démontre une remarquable durée de l'intérêt porté à cet insecte charismatique. La popularité du Lucane repose non seulement sur les légendes mythologiques mais aussi sur ses pouvoirs magiques. Au cours du temps, il s'est lentement débarrassé de la signification symbolique qui lui avait été assignée pour prendre une fonction descriptive et décorative, devenant au final le sujet favori de beaucoup d'artistes. Par son aptitude à stimuler l'imagination populaire et à jouer une variété de rôles, le Lucane apparaît même dans les illustrations satiriques. Il est inscrit au répertoire décoratif de l'Art Nouveau sur les porcelaines, les bijoux, les timbres et une variété de biens de consommation

A European monitoring protocol for the stag beetle, a saproxylic flagship species

Developing protocols for threatened invertebrates is often challenging, because they are not only rare but also elusive. This is the case with the stag beetle (Lucanus cervus), a protected and flagship species for the saproxylic beetle fauna in Europe. We applied a standard transect walk at a European scale (8 countries, 29 transects) to test its practicability and reliability as survey design. A total of 533 sightings were recorded throughout the sampling period, but detection probability changed as the season progressed. Considering the observed activity pattern, occupancy models showed that a short period of three consecutive weeks, between the middle of June and the first week of July, resulted in a high probability of detection (P > 0.7). As time of the peak of activity varies from year to year and between sites, we propose to extend the sampling period to five weekly surveys. Detailed information on the transect characteristics and the optimal time for surveying were analysed. The data indicate that a weekly transect at dusk provides a reliable method for monitoring this species throughout its distributional range. No correlation was found between latitude, longitude and phenology of sightings, however. However, a standard method such as the one presented, allows broadening the scale of monitoring studies, provinding data to evaluate the efficacy of conservation measures. © 2016 The Royal Entomological Societ

The stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) in art and mythology

Lucanus cervus, the largest European beetle, has incessantly captured the imagination and fascination of mankind and has been known in Europe since the antiquity. The first written sources, in which it is mentioned, appear in ancient Greece and the last are very recent paintings of male stag beetles from the 21st century, demonstrating a very impressive span for this charismatic beetle. The stag beetle’s popularity is based not only on the mythological tales, but also on its magical powers. By the time, it slowly rid itself of the once assigned symbolic meaning and took on a descriptive and decorative function, fi nally becoming the favourite subject of many artists. Thanks to its ability to stimulate people’s imagination and to be transformed into a variety of roles, the stag beetle appears even in satirical illustrations. It is included in the repertory of decorative Art Nouveau, on porcelain, on jewellery, on stamps and on a variety of consumer goods.Le Lucane cerf-volant Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) dans l’art et la mythologie. — Connu en Europe depuis l’Antiquité, Lucanus cervus, le plus grand Coléoptère européen, a de tout temps captivé l’imagination et fasciné l’humanité. Les premières sources écrites dans lesquelles il est mentionné remontent à la Grèce ancienne et les dernières sont de très récentes peintures de lucanes mâles du 21e siècle, ce qui démontre une remarquable durée de l’intérêt porté à cet insecte charismatique. La popularité du Lucane repose non seulement sur les légendes mythologiques mais aussi sur ses pouvoirs magiques. Au cours du temps, il s’est lentement débarrassé de la signification symbolique qui lui avait été assignée pour prendre une fonction descriptive et décorative, devenant au final le sujet favori de beaucoup d’artistes. Par son aptitude à stimuler l’imagination populaire et à jouer une variété de rôles, le Lucane apparaît même dans les illustrations satiriques. Il est inscrit au répertoire décoratif de l’Art Nouveau sur les porcelaines, les bijoux, les timbres et une variété de biens de consommation.Sprecher-Uebersax Eva. The stag beetle Lucanus cervus (Coleoptera, Lucanidae) in art and mythology. In: Revue d'Écologie (La Terre et La Vie), supplément n°10, 2008. 4ème colloque sur la conservation des coléoptères saproxyliques, tenu à Vivoin (Sarthe – France) du 27 au 29 juin 2006 / Proceedings of the 4th symposium and workshop on the conservation of Saproxylic beetles, held in vivoin, sarthe department – France 27–29 June 2006. pp. 153-159

Description of fiv enew species and proposal of a new synonym in the genus Paropsisterna Motschulsky, 1860, from Australia (Coleoptera, Chryso-melidae, Chrysomelinae)

Five new species of Paropsisterna are described from Queensland, New South Wales and Western Australia, and a new synonym is proposed : Paropsisterna ambigua Daccordi, 2003, n. syn. for P. cernua (Chapuis, 1877). P. dogueti n. sp. is closely allied to P. delmastroi Daccordi, 2003 ; P. sergei n. sp. resembles P. angustipes (Blackburn, 1898) ; P. cooktowni n. sp. and P. fortepunctata n. sp. are related to P. purpureoviridis (Clark, 1864) ; P. fontaniva n. sp. belongs to the species complex of P. sexpustulata (Marsham, 1808). The species can be distinguished by the characters of the aedeagus.Description de cinq espèces nouvelles et proposition d’un nouveau synonyme dans le genre Paropsisterna Motschulsky, 1860, d’Australie (Coleoptera, Chrysomelidae, Chrysomelinae). Cinq nouvelles espèces de Paropsisterna sont décrites du Queensland, de New South Wales et d’Australie occidentale, et une nouvelle synonymie est proposée : Paropsisterna ambigua Daccordi, 2003, n. syn. de P. cernua (Chapuis, 1877). P. dogueti n. sp. est voisine de P. delmastroi Daccordi, 2003 ; P. sergei n. sp. ressemble à P. angustipes (Blackburn, 1898) ; P. cooktowni n. sp. et P. fortepunctata n. sp. appartiennent au groupe de P. purpureoviridis (Clark, 1864) ; P. fontaniva n. sp. fait partie du complexe d’espèces de P. sexpustulata (Marsham, 1808). Toutes les espèces se distinguent parfaitement par les caractères de l’édéage.Daccordi Mauro, Sprecher-Uebersax Eva. Description of fiv enew species and proposal of a new synonym in the genus Paropsisterna Motschulsky, 1860, from Australia (Coleoptera, Chryso-melidae, Chrysomelinae). In: Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France, volume 123 (2),2018. pp. 245-258

New data on Chrysomelidae of Nepal (Insecta, Coleoptera)

Volume: 21Start Page: 25End Page: 4

A checklist of stag beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae) from Iran

Bartolozzi, Luca, Ghahari, Hassan, Sprecher-Uebersax, Eva, Zilioli, Michele (2014): A checklist of stag beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae) from Iran. Zootaxa 3887 (3): 422-436, DOI: 10.11646/zootaxa.3887.4.

A checklist of stag beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae) from Iran

Bartolozzi, Luca, Ghahari, Hassan, Sprecher-Uebersax, Eva, Zilioli, Michele (2014): A checklist of stag beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeoidea: Lucanidae) from Iran. Zootaxa 3887 (3): 422-436, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.3887.4.

Can we successfully monitor a population density decline of elusive invertebrates? A statistical power analysis on Lucanus cervus

Monitoring global biodiversity is essential for understanding and countering its current loss. However, monitoring of many species is hindered by their difficult detection due to crepuscular activity, hidden phases of the life cycle, short activity period and low population density. Few statistical power analyses of declining trends have been published for terrestrial invertebrates. Consequently, no knowledge exists of the success rate of monitoring elusive invertebrates. Here data from monitoring transects of the European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is used to investigate whether the population trend of this elusive species can be adequately monitored. Data from studies in UK, Switzerland and Germany were compiled to parameterize a simulation model explaining the stag beetle abundance as a function of temperature and seasonality. A Monte-Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the effort needed to detect a population abundance decline of 1%/year over a period of 12 years. To reveal such a decline, at least 240 1-hour transect walks on 40 to 100 transects need to be implemented in weekly intervals during warm evenings. It is concluded that monitoring of stag beetles is feasible and the effort is not greater than that which has been found for other invertebrates. Based on this example, it is assumed that many other elusive species with similar life history traits can be monitored with moderate efforts. As saproxylic invertebrates account for a large share of the forest biodiversity, although many are elusive, it is proposed that at least some flagship species are included in monitoring programmes

Supplementary material 1 from: Thomaes A, Verschelde P, Mader D, Sprecher-Uebersax E, Fremlin M, Onkelinx T, Méndez M (2017) Can we successfully monitor a population density decline of elusive invertebrates? A statistical power analysis on Lucanus cervus. In: Campanaro A, Hardersen S, Sabbatini Peverieri G, Maria Carpaneto G (Eds) Monitoring of saproxylic beetles and other insects protected in the European Union. Nature Conservation 19: 1-18. https://doi.org/10.3897/natureconservation.19.11761

Monitoring global biodiversity is essential for understanding and countering its current loss. However, monitoring of many species is hindered by their difficult detection due to crepuscular activity, hidden phases of the life cycle, short activity period and low population density. Few statistical power analyses of declining trends have been published for terrestrial invertebrates. Consequently, no knowledge exists of the success rate of monitoring elusive invertebrates. Here data from monitoring transects of the European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is used to investigate whether the population trend of this elusive species can be adequately monitored. Data from studies in UK, Switzerland and Germany were compiled to parameterize a simulation model explaining the stag beetle abundance as a function of temperature and seasonality. A Monte-Carlo simulation was used to evaluate the effort needed to detect a population abundance decline of 1%/year over a period of 12 years. To reveal such a decline, at least 240 1-hour transect walks on 40 to 100 transects need to be implemented in weekly intervals during warm evenings. It is concluded that monitoring of stag beetles is feasible and the effort is not greater than that which has been found for other invertebrates. Based on this example, it is assumed that many other elusive species with similar life history traits can be monitored with moderate efforts. As saproxylic invertebrates account for a large share of the forest biodiversity, although many are elusive, it is proposed that at least some flagship species are included in monitoring programmes