Visitor / It’s a stag beetle I’ve never seen.
Visitor / It’s the first time I saw such a stag beetle so I was happy.

This Miyama stag beetle was found this month in Hiroshima Prefecture, western Japan.

It’s been gaining attention in an insect museum where it is being exhibited.

Museum staff / The right half of the beetle’s body is male and the left half is female. 

The Miyama stag beetle is a bilateral gynandromorph, and the length of its mandible is different on each side. The right side, being a male, is bigger, and the left is smaller being female.

The rare insect was given to the museum on July 13 after being found in a local forest.

Visitor / I saw something like this for the first time. It made me wonder why it was born like this.

Visitor / I’d like to see one in the wild.

Hiroshima City Insectarium staff / It’s extremely rare. You might never be able to see it if you miss out on this chance. The originally female body might have had a genetic mutation which caused it to become half male. There has not been much research on it.

The life span of a Miyama stag beetle imago typically lasts for up to three months. 

The insectarium is encouraging visitors to come see the rare kind.