- I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter
the pinch zone with the stag beetle.
One,
two,
three.
(yelling)
(tribal music)
Oh, oh, look at this, look at this.
- [Crew Member] You got something?
- Look at that, that's a stag beetle.
Mario!
- [Mario] Yeah?
- I've got a stag beetle.
- [Mario] Okay.
- Bring that little bug container up here,
we've got film with this.
- [Mario] Okay, yeah, I'll give him the container.
- [Crew Member] You got it in your backpack?
- [Mario] Yep.
- That's a stag beetle, some sort of stag beetle,
there's many different species, wow.
Try to climb up here.
Just filming B roll, getting these extra shots,
and sure enough we come around the back side
of this log and there is an enormous beetle.
I'm just gonna go ahead and pick it up.
Come here buddy, oh don't get pinched, don't get pinched.
Wow he's strong.
Got it, whoa, that's crazy.
Wow, yeah, check this out.
You guys can see this, I'm showing you B roll shots.
This environment's really tough to walk around in,
but this is perfect beetle territory,
with all this decomposing wood.
- Here. - Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Just grab a piece of moss or something, yeah that's perfect.
Good thing we had this little bug carrier with us.
There you go buddy, oh he's pinching onto it.
Nice!
- [Crew Member] You got it?
- Oo, great find. - Yeah, yeah stag beetle.
- [Crew Member] Nice.
- We'll bring it down and lets get a little scene with it.
- [Mario] Alright, I'm gonna put him in my backpack.
- [Coyote] Yeah.
- [Man] Good save.
- [Coyote] Wow, I consider it a big one, right?
- Yeah that's big.
- Alright, down we go.
(tense music)
Whoa.
Yes, stag beetle, this is so cool.
Definitely a creature that we have not featured,
on the channel before.
Alright, let's find a good spot
to set up, and then we'll get a scene.
Check this out Mark, this thing is super cool, look at that.
- [Mark] Oh whoa!
- [Coyote] Yeah, right.
- [Mark] Check that out, here pull it
out of the container real quick.
- [Coyote] Watch your fingers though, watch your fingers.
He's kind of tangled up inside of this.
Oh, oh, oh, hold on there buddy, look at that, right.
- [Mark] Great stag.
- [Coyote] Pretty cool.
Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Alright, here, let's just get him back in the container,
grab him by the thorax there, Mario.
- [Mario] With the whole thing?
- [Coyote] No, just put him in like that,
'cause he's just gonna grip onto that stuff.
Sweet, okay, cool.
I just wanted him to be on that
for coming down the hillside.
- Nice, dude. - Dude.
- Nice climbing Mario, that was awesome.
- I guess filming B roll pays off,
and now we're gonna get another episode, this is great.
- [Mark] Alright, cool, lets go over here into the light.
- Yeah, better light, woo.
Alright cool, this is a good spot.
Much better light, super dark up there in the forest.
This is the Brave Wilderness Adventure Kit, bug container.
We brought it out for some product photography,
and putting it to good use.
This was perfect because I didn't want to try to
slide down the hill with this beetle in my fingers.
If I drop it, it's gonna disappear into the underbrush.
What a cool find.
Alright, I'm gonna set this down, and take the bug out.
I put a little leaf in there,
so he wouldn't bounce around while I was walking.
- [Mario] You up for the reveal?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, you ready, alright here we go.
Oh, he's hanging on, there we go buddy,
oh ya, grip onto that leaf, there we go.
- [Mario] Oh man.
- [Coyote] Oh, what a big guy.
- [Mario] Whoa, you can really see it now.
- Right, alright, now I'm gonna get that leaf off of there.
Come on, let go of that leaf.
Oh they are so strong, look at that,
I could just rip that leaf apart, and it just shreds up.
- [Mario] He's not letting go of that leaf.
- There we go, there we go.
Now those little legs are like grappling hooks,
so what I'm gonna do is,
place it on my finger, maybe it will just stay right there.
It's going to hook on and hopefully we can get this scene.
You gonna hold on?
Oh, balancing act, here get this little leg out.
There we go, now he's happy.
Now the male stag beetles are much larger,
and much more defined than the females.
This is, ow, no pinching, this is without question, a male.
There are many species of stag beetles,
and I said this to the GoPro,
when I was up there catching it,
I'm not sure exactly what species this is.
We're gonna have to look it up.
But it is without question, a stag beetle of some sort.
They get that name, oo oo, come here,
oh he's hooking on again,
they get that name from those front mandibles.
If you zoom in on him, there Mario,
you can see that they almost look
like the antlers of a deer.
They look very intimidating, right?
And you may be thinking to yourself,
wow I bet this beetle can give you a very powerful pinch.
Let's see bad how the pinch of the stag beetle really is.
You guys ready?
- [Mario] If you're ready.
Oh you're just going right for it?
- I'm going right for it but I'll give you
the classic intro, you ready?
I'm Coyote Peterson and I'm about to enter
the pinch zone with the stag beetle.
One,
two,
three.
(yelling)
He did pinch pretty good there,
but not powerful enough to break skin.
Now, actually, what will get you more
than the pinchers, is the little grappling hook like legs.
Go ahead and zoom in there, they have all these tiny hooks
that almost look like fish hooks,
and when they grapple onto your skin, they dig in.
When you try to pull the insect off of you,
it just locks in place.
That's actually more painful than the mandible pinch.
It appears as if they would use those mandibles
to catch and kill their prey, to crush it, to pinch it,
but these insects are actually herbivores,
they eat nectar and fruits.
Now during the breeding season they use those stags,
for not only display but also to battle
against other males for the rights to a breeding territory.
The body design of this insect is just so cool.
As you guys know, insects break down into three parts,
the head, the thorax, and the abdomen.
If I turn the beetle up like this, look at its head,
it almost appears as if it's wearing a helmet.
And when you look at those mandibles,
you can see why this is such an intimidating little insect.
Look off to the side here, you see these little antenna?
It almost appears as if they're fingers,
just at the tip, those are little chemical sensory organs
that help them investigate their environment.
If I also hold the beetle like this
and you zoom in real tight,
you can see all these goldish hairs running
over the course of the exoskeleton.
Now, holding the beetle like this, I actually
have to exert quite a bit of power,
because of how strong this insect is.
Now, pound for pound, the stag beetle is one of the most
powerful insects on the planet.
The exoskeleton is incredibly rigid,
really strong, really hard, it's like armor plating.
It would be very tough to squish this beetle.
They are actually capable of flying.
Can you see these two protective shields over the abdomen?
There are actually wings underneath there.
Because this insect is so heavily bodied,
it cannot fly long distances, but if it needs to move
from spot to spot quickly, it can do that.
Of course, often times to escape something
like a predator or to move from
territory to territory during breeding season.
You can see it's just investigating my arm right now,
and using those grappling hook-like appendages to hold on.
Now, this time of year between September and October,
you will see these beetles moving about,
getting ready for breeding season,
but they die shortly after.
They actually only have a lifespan of about a year,
from larva or grub state to adult,
when they emerge and then breed.
There are a number of different beetle species
that live here in Japan, in fact
beetles are considered little cultural icons.
People collect beetles, people trade beetles,
they are highly regarded in Japanese culture,
as just this cool little insect
that only comes out once a year,
and people certainly admire them for what they are.
Pretty cool, right?
- [Mario] Oh yeah.
- Man, what an awesome little bug.
Alright, well let's get this guy back up into the underbrush
so he can continue his day searching for nectar.
I'm Coyote Peterson, be brave, stay wild.
We'll see ya on the next adventure.
(playful music)
Alright, it is time for the climb
back up the hillside, to release the beetle.
Alright, come here little buddy.
There he goes.
If you thought getting pinched by this giant beetle
was entertaining, make sure to go back
and watch the episode where I was pinched
by its Costa Rican cousin, ouch, that one was painful.
And don't forget, subscribe and click the notification bell
so you can join me and the crew on our next wild adventure.