European Stag Beetle (Wild Animals by Papo)

The European stag beetle, Lucanus cervus, is an iconic insect of the European hardwood forests. Unfortunately, its numbers dropped in the 20th Century due to modern forestry, which removed dead oak and beech trees required for larval development. The beetle gets its Latin epithet, cervus, and its common name ‘stag beetle’ after Cervus elaphus (red deer), as the mandibles of a major male are reminiscent of the antlers of a red deer stag. Interestingly, its sister species in North America, Lucanus elaphus, also takes its species epithet from the Latin name of the red deer. In 2022, Papo continued its rapidly growing collection of terrestrial arthropods with a major male European stag beetle. Interestingly, early promotional pics (and unfortunately, pics still used now by online stores and eBay dealers) depicted the figure with an upside down head!!! When I went to buy mine from an eBay dealer based out of Germany, I asked for a homemade pic of the figure to ensure it wasn’t upside down. When I saw the earlier error had been corrected, I purchased it! Had Papo actually put a figure to market with an upside down head, I would not have bought it!

The figure measures 6.5 cm long including its mandibles, which technically puts it in the 1:1 range. However, as a large major male, it is closer to 1:1.3. Still, for those that like 1:1 figures, it works!

The sculpt is very well done! The legs are even on the correct ventral sternites; meaning, the front legs are on the prothorax and the middle and hind legs are on a discernible mesothorax and metathorax, respectively. This might seem like an odd thing to get excited for, but you’d be surprised how many insect figures have the legs haphazardly attached to the bottom of the main body. Among the mouthparts, the maxillary palps and galae are sculpted, and the antennae show lamellated terminal segments. The left-middle leg is forward, as if the beetle is in a dynamic walking pose. The texture is very natural for this species (I was lucky to see them in the Czech Republic in the late 1990s).

The entire beetle is brown, but the elytra are a different shade than the rest of the body, and darker brown highlights sutures and other areas of demarcation. The eyes are beady and black, as they should be.

Overall this is another spectacular insect offering by Papo! Between the insects and birds recently, Papo is becoming one of my top brands! If you want this species for your collection, this figure comes highly recommended. CollectA also made a very nice one in 2015. The styles of the two are different, and the CollectA figure is probably closer to 1:1 for a large major male, but I would be hard pressed to say which of the two are better. You can’t go wrong with either! In a natural setting, however, the Papo figure may be no match for that by CollectA:

This covers my reviews of Papo’s 2022 arthropods (I am leaving the hermit crab and shrimp for others). Let’s hope for more in 2023 and beyond!