What do insects eat?

Stag beetles are insects that find their food in the sap of the trees.

Habitat of the stag beetle

• Stag beetles are large insects and can grow up to three inches long. However, only the males wear the familiar antlers. They prefer to live in the forest, because that is where they have their source of food.
• But it can also be that stag beetles settle in your garden and then under in the compost heap Leaves or found in other places, such as under thickly overgrown bushes and shrubs are.
• These insects are found in Central, Southern and Western Europe. They also live in England and Sweden, among others. Since they prefer to stay in oak forests, but these are no longer found everywhere, the beetles can now move to other areas to look for suitable food there.

Eating the insects

• Stag beetles are the largest in Europe live beetles. However, they do not feed on different things, preferring the sap of oak. Therefore, they are mainly settled in oak forests.


What do cockchafer eat?

What do cockchafer live on, so what do they eat? The question is obvious ...

• So that the larvae of these insects can feed themselves properly, they are placed in rotten and rotten wood. The approx. 10 cm long larvae until they have matured into a finished beetle.
• However, the adult stag beetle's food is no longer made of rotten wood. The beetles feed exclusively on the tree sap. If they cannot find an oak, the beetles will also go to willows, beeches and other trees.

Lifespan and development

• The development from larva to beetle can take several years. If you have the insects in the garden, then a larva can mature for five to six years in rotten wood.
• Compared to the normal lifespan, this is very long, because the adult beetle does not get older than two months on average. The stag beetles are best seen from June to August. With a little luck, you can watch the insects climb or even see them eating the sap from the tree bark.