Ekoxen (Lucan Cervus) is Europe's largest skalbaggeart! Is not it charming and majestic, with their large dark red jaws, black center party and the dark red / brown tail. The male is about 8.5 cm and the female without these jaws are very approximately 1/2 as great. Ekoxen is a species that is very easy to recognize because of their different appearance. It lives in Blekinge and is also the provincial animal, komun Kalmar and Östergötland.

It takes about 5 years (!) For the larva to develop, and well-developed liver Ekoxen only a few weeks during the summer. The male's jaws are used to see who is strongest when they compete for females. Most often lose the losing Ekoxen fight life, when it becomes a high nerslängd oak, where they usually liver. Hence the name stag beetle! It feeds on sap from ancient oaks.

Ekoxen is a protected species, and very rare. This depends on several things, one of them is that old oak trees are removed. Although wild boars looking stag beetle larvae as a delicacy.

On a hot summer May 26 2011, I met this chap who was more than willing to cooperate for a change. Found him on a light traffic on a gravel road between Västervik and Gamleby. Has met ekoxar before, mainly females, and it's always magical. This time I had with me only my Nikon 24-70mm f2.8 lens, but it happened to.

Wander around nettles and other environment where the photographer has been difficult to work in, like the Ekoxen! Anyway this.

Climb are good at!

Shortly after I finished shooting literally ran Ekoxen up in the half-dead oak tree!

And yes ... they like my Domke F3X supercomact! You can see in the picture how big these beetles are. Impressive!