New Guinea Stag Beetle

Lamprima adolphinae (Gestro, 1875) is a lucanid beetle endemic to New Guinea. [1][2]

Males are usually metallic bronze or green above, with a bronze-black head and purplish-black mandibles. Yellow-green, blue-green and rarer blue individuals also occur. Females can be bronze, brown, green, coppery or blue and have a distinctly shinier surface. [1]

Male length in the revision ranges from 24 to 60 mm, including the mandibles; females measure 18–24 mm. Small males have relatively straight jaws with upward-turning tips. Large males have strongly curved jaws ending in three acute teeth. [1]

The species is widespread in New Guinea’s mountains, with most records in cloud forest at 1000–2500 m. A high-elevation record reaches 2800 m on Mount Giluwe. [1]

Museums Victoria holds an adult collected at Wau in Morobe Province, Papua New Guinea, at 1250 m. [2]

Gestro described the species as Neolamprima adolphinae in 1875. The 2018 revision treats the named colour forms olivacea, lulua, chalciditis and bohni as synonyms of Lamprima adolphinae. [1]

Females closely resemble those of Lamprima aurata and Lamprima insularis. [1]

Keep the enclosure closed and display it in indirect light, away from heat and damp conditions. Handle the frame by its edges and clean only its exterior according to the maker’s instructions.