Other insects
Amami saw stag beetle / Prosopocoilus dissimilis / Amami nokogiri kuwagata / アマミノコギリクワガタ
The Amami saw stag beetle, endemic to Amami-Oshima and neighboring islands, is the largest species of stag beetle in Japan, with the biggest males reaching a length of 8 centimeters. It has a black body and large, powerful mandibles with several teeth. The larger the mandible, the more curved it becomes. The beetle lives in the forest, where it is most active at night, feeding on tree sap. The females lay eggs in the wood of dead trees. After a larval period of one or two years, and a pupal stage of a few months, the beetle emerges as an adult, with a lifespan of two to three months. This fierce-looking creature is highly prized as a pet in Japan.
Father Ferrier’s longhorn beetle / Rosalia ferriei / Ferrier beniboshi kamikiri / フェリエベニボシカミキリ
This is one of over 35,000 species in the longhorn beetle family, and the only one found solely on Amami-Oshima. It is seen for a brief time in June and July in its usual habitat near dead chinquapin oak trees. It is small, at 2 to 3 centimeters, and bright orange, with black spots on its head and running down its body. The antennae are segmented and longer than the body. The Father Ferrier in its name is that of a French priest who helped with the study of local insects while doing missionary work on Japan’s southern islands during the Meiji era (1868–1912).
