Flat stag beetle Coloring Pages

Strong and Cool! Flat stag beetle!

Flat stag beetle is a cool stag beetle with a shiny black body and big, flat jaws! It is very popular in Japan, and everyone from kids to adults loves it. Just like rhinoceros beetles, you can often find them in the woods during summer. But unlike rhinoceros beetles, they do not just live up in trees. They also hide near tree roots and under the ground. They are super strong, and once they grab onto something, they will not let go!

Where Do They Live?

Flat stag beetle lives across a huge area in Japan, from Honshu all the way to Kyushu and Okinawa. In forests and woods, they like to gather on broadleaf trees like sawtooth oaks and konara oaks. They love to drink the sweet tree sap coming out of tree trunks! During the day, they hide inside holes at the bottom of trees, in rotting wood, or under stones. At night, they come out to look for food and fight other beetles for their space.

The Secret of Their Strong Jaws

The coolest thing about Flat stag beetle is its big jaws! They are flat and have lots of little bumpy teeth. Male beetles use these jaws to fight each other, catch females, and dig holes in trees. Stag beetles sometimes pinch their rivals and toss them away, but Flat stag beetle has a super strong pinch that is really hard to break! People say its jaw power is even stronger than a rhinoceros beetle or other stag beetles.

Size and Body Color

Flat stag beetle can come in many different sizes. Small ones are about 3 cm long, but big ones can reach 7 cm or even 8 cm! Because their bodies are flat, they can hide more easily than other stag beetles and slide right into tiny spaces. Most of them have a shiny black body. When the light hits them, they can sometimes look a little bit red!

Differences Between Males and Females

It is very easy to tell male and female Flat stag beetle apart!

• Male: Has big, impressive jaws. Its body is flat and shiny.
• Female: Much smaller than the male, with short jaws. Its body is rounder with lots of tiny dots on its back.

Life Cycle

It takes about two years for Flat stag beetle to grow from an egg into an adult.

1. Egg: The female lays eggs inside rotting wood.
2. Larva: When the larva hatches from the egg, it eats the rotting wood to grow big. It takes in lots of good food from the wood to get ready to become a grand stag beetle the next year.
3. Pupa: Once the larva grows big enough, it turns into a pupa. It stays a pupa for about one month.
4. Adult: After emerging from the pupa as an adult, it comes above ground during the summer. An adult lives for about one to two years. In the winter, it sleeps inside rotting wood, and then it gets active again the next summer!

How to pick colors: Make it look shiny and black!

On your Flat stag beetle coloring page, the key is coloring the cool black body really well. Don't just use one solid black! If you show where the light hits and where the shadows fall, it will look much more real.

• Body colors:
  • Basically, you will color it black. If you use colored pencils, press down firmly to make it nice and dark.
  • Where the light hits, try mixing in a little gray. You can also press white colored pencil over black crayon to make it look shiny!
  • Where the shadows fall, use dark black or dark brown. This makes it look 3D!
  • When light hits it, sometimes it looks a bit reddish. It is fun to mix a tiny bit of red into the black!
• Jaws colors:
  • Color the jaws black just like the body. Try to color the jagged parts carefully.
• Eye colors:
  • The eyes of a Flat stag beetle are small, round, and black.
• Background colors:
  • Flat stag beetles live in forests and woods. If you use brown and green, it will look like the real world!
  • Stag beetles are active at night. Adding a night sky, stars, or the moon makes a really cool picture too.

How to make it look 3D: Think about "shine" and "shadows"!

The body of a Flat stag beetle is smooth and shiny. If you show these "shiny parts" and "shadows" well, your coloring page will look super lively!

• Where to make it shiny:
  • Imagine light hitting the round parts of the head and back. Leave a little white or light gray there. That will make it look like it is sparkling light!
  • You can also draw a quick line with a white colored pencil over the black area to make a shine.
• Where to put shadows:
  • Shadows fall on the inside of the jaws, between the body parts, and under the legs.
  • If you use dark black or dark brown in these places, the body will pop out and look 3D.

Tips for paints, colored pencils, and crayons!

• Colored pencils:
  • Press hard to color dark, or press lightly to color soft. This makes it easy to show shine and shadows!
  • Layer other colors (like gray, white, or a little red) over black to give it a rich color.
• Crayons:
  • Crayons make it easy to give a shiny look. You can also rub the color with your finger to blend it.
• Paints:
  • Mix a little water into black paint to make a light gray. Paint that on the shiny spots! Once it dries, put black over it again to give it deep color.

Use your imagination and free ideas to finish your very own amazing Flat stag beetle coloring page!