Papuan golden stag beetle Coloring Pages

Name Origin and English Name

The Papuan golden stag beetle is a super pretty bug. Bug lovers like to call it "Papukin" as a cute nickname! The name "Papuan" comes from the southern island of New Guinea (like Papua New Guinea) where it lives. "Golden" was given to it because its whole body shines brightly like metal.

In English, it is called "Papuan green stag beetle." People also call it "Sawtooth stag beetle" because of the shape of its big jaws. Even if you look all over the world, a beetle this colorful and beautiful is super rare!

Where Does It Live? Where You Can See It

The Papuan golden stag beetle does not live in wild forests in Japan. It is a very special beetle that only lives on the big southern island of New Guinea, just north of Australia. It lives quietly in warm, rainy jungle forests in places like Indonesian territory (Irian Jaya) and Papua New Guinea. In Japan, it is very popular at pet shops that sell cool foreign bugs and at summer beetle exhibits!

When Can You See It? Active Season

Because it lives in a warm southern jungle all year long, it does not move only in summer like beetles in Japan. Instead, it stays active all year round! It likes to move around in the bright sunshine during the day. You can find it flying around the jungle or gathering on its favorite plants.

What Does It Eat to Grow Big?

• Grown-up beetles (Adults): They scratch small twigs and new sprouts on jungle plants. Then, they happily lick the sweet plant sap that comes out. They also love sweet fruit juice! When you keep one at home, it eats insect jelly happily.

• Baby beetles (Larvae): Baby beetles live in soil or rotten wood. They grow big by eating soft wood broken down by mushroom fungus, or rich black soil mats full of nutrients. They stay as larvae for about 3 to 7 months. They grow into adults very fast compared to other beetles!

How Long Does It Live? Lifespan

After it comes out of its pupa, turns into an adult, and starts moving around, it lives for about 3 months to half a year. Sometimes it lives for over 1 year! Males grow to about 2 to 5 centimeters long, and females are around 2 centimeters. It is a small beetle that sits right on your hand. But if you care for it in a warm room, it is a strong bug that lives much longer than you might think!

Amazing Colors! The "Rainbow Beetle"

The coolest thing about the Papuan golden stag beetle is that every single male and female has a different color! Normal beetles are black or brown. But this beetle looks just like a living jewel!

• Male colors: Males are usually shiny yellow-green, blue-green, or shiny bronze like a 10-yen coin. Sometimes you can find super rare black or blue ones too!

• Female colors: Females come in even more colors than males! They can be green, blue, gold, red, purple, or pink. They are colorful like a rainbow and shine even brighter than males! People who breed bugs love to pair rare colored males and females to try and get new colors like cobalt blue or purple.

Secrets of the Upward Jaws and Front Legs

Look closely at the face of a male Papuan golden stag beetle! You can see it looks very different from a normal beetle.

• Curved upward jaws: Its big jaws do not point down. Instead, they curve upward toward the sky like mammoth tusks or boat oars! Inside the big jaws, there is a row of small, sharp teeth that look just like saw blades.

• Round shapes on front legs: Male front legs have cool round parts shaped like spoons or fans. These are important tools used to scrape plant sprouts so tasty sap flows out. You can find these round shapes drawn on the coloring page too, so try to look for them!

Any color is right! Make your very own metallic color

There are no rules saying you have to use a certain color for the Papuan golden stag beetle. That is because real ones come in all the colors of the rainbow, too!

• Pick your base color: What color do you want your Papuan golden stag beetle to be? Choose one color you love, like metallic green, ruby red, sapphire blue, or amethyst purple. Color the whole body lightly with it first.

• The magic trick to make it shine: Leave a thin white line on the middle of its hard wings and the highest part of its head. These are your shiny highlights! Then color around those spots with a slightly darker color. This makes your beetle look super shiny like a real jewel under the tropical sun!

How to color the cool head and upward-curving jaws

When you color a male, make his cool upward-pointing jaws stand out!

• Jagged jaw teeth: Sharpen your colored pencil. Trace the tiny, saw-like teeth inside the jaws with a darker color, like black or dark brown.

• Face details: Add light, round shadows in the center of the head and around the eyes. This will make your beetle's face look cool and strong, even on a small body.

Look at the round shapes on the front legs

This beetle has spoon-like round parts on its front legs. No other stag beetle has these! Color them carefully to become a real bug expert.

• Front leg spots: Color the flat, round spots on the front legs neatly with the same metallic color as the body. Then color the sharp claws at the ends of the legs and the tips of the tiny antennae black or dark brown. This makes your whole coloring page look super neat!

Color the background to create a tropical island

Have fun designing the empty space around your Papuan golden stag beetle so it does not look like it is floating in midair!

• Tropical jungle: Draw thin plant sprouts or big tropical leaves around the beetle using light green and green pencils. These beetles love plants!

• A bright and sunny world: These beetles love to move around during the day. Try making the background a bright blue sky or lemon yellow! Bright colors will make your colorful Papuan golden stag beetle pop off the page!

The Papuan golden stag beetle is like a shiny little fairy from a tropical island. Use your bright ideas and favorite colored pencils to create the most beautiful treasure beetle in the world!

Shining like colorful jewels

The Papuan golden stag beetle has a body that shines shiny like metal. Even if they come from the same parents, each one can be green, blue, purple, or gold. They are amazing stag beetles where everyone is a totally different color!

Unique jaws that point up

The large jaws on the male's head do not open sideways like Japanese stag beetles. Instead, they curl upward! They have fine hair packed on the inside. They have a funny shape that looks just like little spoons.

Are the females even more colorful!?

With most stag beetles, the males are more popular. But for the Papuan golden stag beetle, the females are very popular too! Their bodies are even shinier than the males. They have beautiful colors just like real jewels, such as sapphires and rubies.

A treasure grown in the nature of Papua New Guinea

Just like their name says, the Papuan golden stag beetle lives on the island nation of Papua New Guinea near Australia. They are small, about 3 to 5 centimeters big. But because they are so pretty, they are loved by bug fans all over the world!