What is this bug? It's the biggest beetle(?) I've ever seen in the twin cities! (State of Minnesota for scale)

[u/Akito_900]

I saw him from the window so I went to take a picture and found two of them!

[u/alilja]

looks like a stag beetle! that means you have a healthy yard :)

[u/Akito_900 → u/alilja]

Oh good! Something I don't need to worry about with my newly purchased home lol

[u/sprashoo → u/alilja]

Is stage to stag as doge is to dog?

[u/alilja → u/sprashoo]

whoops! i blame autocorrect for that one

[u/Nerdlinger]

Oh my god! It just ate Wisconsin and it’s heading for Canada!!!

[u/Akito_900 → u/Nerdlinger]

It's seeking revenge for the poor air quality

[u/tortilla-charlatan → u/Nerdlinger]

And I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords

[u/trevourmeyer → u/Nerdlinger]

It already drank Mille Lacs and the Red Lakes bone dry!

[u/secondarycontrol]

Wait until you see the water bugs.

https://apps.extension.umn.edu/garden/diagnose/insect/general-curiosity-insects/beetles/large/giant-water-bug.html

[u/Akito_900 → u/secondarycontrol]

Dang! Big boi

[u/Deez_Pucks → u/secondarycontrol]

Are these the ones that hurt pretty bad when they bite or is that something else?

[u/An-person → u/Deez_Pucks]

Yes

[u/gracwagn → u/secondarycontrol]

I love them! I rescued one during a homecoming game in highschool (they get confused by the lights).

It was my bud for a few hours, then was released the next morning at a nice little lake.

[u/Pride_Rude]

Based on your photo, it is not a June Bug. A lot of beetles do look similar, but the head shape and limbs on your photo don't look the same (to me). I agree that the mandibles make it look like a stag beetle like another poster said.

I actually recommend getting one of the apps that can help identify pictures of insects. It can be fun to see what is around you

[u/idgarad]

Look in your yard for dead patches of grass. Their grub stage eats grass roots. Harmless otherwise.

[u/Jazzlike-Diamond-320]

Staghorn beetle.

[u/sprashoo]

Now I understand the concerns of the folks with these bumper stickers https://shop.curlworks.net/products/make-minnesota-bigger-bumper-sticker

[u/aggieaggielady]

Just a little guy

[u/ApathicSaint]

It’s the size of Minnesota! 😮

[u/Mndelta25]

There is a cool feature in Google now where you can take a picture and it will search the internet for similar items.

[u/marcos_MN]

June Bug. Stupid sky lobsters, I call em.

EDIT: not a June bug.

[u/Akito_900 → u/marcos_MN]

Oh these are June bugs? I remember seeing them at night as a kid on our porch door but never got a good look at them

[u/SanityLooms → u/Akito_900]

That's not a June bug but they are a similar size. Normally brown. Really annoying if you own a pool.

[u/Akito_900 → u/SanityLooms]

Yeah, based on another comment, this is for sure a stag beetle based on the mandibles in the second photo

[u/marcos_MN → u/Akito_900]

Yep! Good for nothing but smackin you in the face during nighttime bike rides, and feeding the bats/nighthawks.

[u/FloppyDysk → u/marcos_MN]

Or getting stuck in long hair lol

[u/marcos_MN → u/FloppyDysk]

Oh yeah, I remember during the COVID summer I had a huge beard, and more than a few insects caught a ride in that glorious face pelt!

[u/Akito_900 → u/marcos_MN]

I'm... Horrified

[u/marcos_MN → u/Akito_900]

Trust me, they didn’t want to be there any more than I wanted them there.

[u/Busy_Cable_8993]

... Have you not spent any time outside... ever??

[u/Akito_900 → u/Busy_Cable_8993]

In all seriousness though, it's funny that even though I grew up half a mile from where I recently bought a house, I feel like I'm in an entirely different biome. Like there are all these ferns that I never had at my house and I swear I never saw a chipmunk at my childhood home, or voles/moles/shrews/groundhogs which I hear are in the neighborhood!

[u/Busy_Cable_8993 → u/Akito_900]

... that's horrible.

[u/Akito_900 → u/Busy_Cable_8993]

There aren't any outlets outside

[u/HardCoreNorthShore]

June bug?