Aegognathus similis

Description

Aegognathus similis is a beetle that belongs to the family of deer beetles (Lucanidae) in the group Scarabaeoidea. It lives in South America. A rather small (about 15 millimeters), shiny black deer beetles. The male has strongly enlarged jaws that are curved with a powerful, obliquely upward-pointing tooth on the inside, so that they become antler-like. The jaws are black, the head black with a few diffuse, reddish spots and the pronotum dark brown-orange with black, angular drawings, the coverts dark reddish. The head is rectangular, much wider than long, in front broad and shallow, U-shaped indented, behind this with a pair of large, rounded pits, fine and scattered punctured. Pronotum is rounded square, narrowed at the root, more closely punctured. The cover wings are quite strongly punctured. The legs are black. The female is similar to the male, but without the enlarged head and jaws, the upper side is shinier and tightly punctured all over. The species lives in Peru. Aegognathus is a genus of beetles belonging to the family Deer beetles (Lucanidae) in the group Scarabaeoidea. It lives in South America. Small to medium-sized (15–25 millimeters), dark deer beetles. The male usually has greatly enlarged jaws that are curved with a long tooth on the inside, so that they become antler-like. The body is matte black, often with orange to brownish-red markings, especially on the pronotum. The genus has a two-part distribution: in the Andes from Colombia in the north to Peru in the south, and in southeastern Brazil.