The identity of this taxon has been controversial for a long time. It was originally considered as a synonym or a form of L. cervus ssp. cervus. The rehabilitation of Lucanus pontbrianti as a valid species was formally stated by Boucher (2014), and also first hypothesised (Décobert 2010, 2013) and then supported (Comelade 2023) by other authors. On the contrary, it must be said that some other authors (B. Dodelin pers. comm. 2021; M. Méndez Iglesias pers. comm. April 2023) still consider that the taxon may be a small form of L. c. ssp. cervus. Cox et al. (2013) did not find a relation between L. pontbrianti (as L. cervus ssp. fabiani in their work) and L. cervus, although this study was only based on one gene from a single individual specimen of L. c. ssp. fabiani, therefore not sufficient to confirm L. pontbrianti as a separate species.

The typical locality, close to Lyon, is now urbanised and no such form was found recently in the area. A. Thomaes (pers. comm. April 2023), based on in-hand comparison of specimens in the Bois de Païolive, Ardèche du Sud, found a number of clear morphologically and habitat differences between L. c. ssp. cervus and L. pontbrianti. The validity of L. pontbrianti as a good species separated from L. c. ssp. cervus will be supported (S. Boucher pers. comm. April 2023) by further morphological and biological data (S. Boucher in prep.).

Some of the morphological characters separating male specimens of L. pontbrianti from L. cervus cervus can be summarised as:

• Pentaphyll antennal club, while L. cervus generally has four, rarely five or six, lamellae.
• Thinner and more arched mandibles.
• Apex of mandible simple while L. cervus males of same size have bifid apex.
• Punctuation of mandible surface more strong and dense.
• Absence of strong cephalic carinae.
• Sharper posterior pronotal angles compared to L. cervus.
• Habitus generally more elongated.

The current version of the French taxonomic reference (INPN TaxRef v16.0) still places L. pontbrianti (as L. c. ssp. pontbrianti) as a synonym of L. c. ssp. cervus. The female of L. pontbrianti was figured by Comelade (2023, fig. 8).

This European endemic species is restricted to southern France and northern Spain. It has a known area of occupancy (AOO) of 236 km², but this is considered likely to be an under-estimate as a result of under-surveying and confusion with other species, and the actual AOO may exceed 500 km². However, the species is not considered to be severely fragmented and occurs in many more than ten threat-defined locations. Whilst there is no information yet on population size and trend, the species is assessed as Least Concern, although further research is required in order to understand the population trend and the impact of known threats.

This species occurs in northeastern Spain and southern France (Fernández de Gamboa and Garzón 2009; Boucher 2014; Bartolozzi et al. 2016a,b; Bartolozzi and Norbiato 2017). In France, it has been found in the departments of Aragon (Valle de Bardají), Nouvelle-Aquitaine, Rhône-Alpes, Provence-Côte d’Azur, Languedoc-Roussillon, Midi-Pyrénées, Auvergne and Aquitaine (Boucher 2014).

In Spain, it has been found near the Pyrenees in northeastern Gerona, northern Catalonia, northern Lleida, northern Huesca, northeastern Navarra and La Rioja (Boucher 2014), with additional recent records from Puerto de Monrepós (Huesca; E. Navarro Polo pers. comm. 2023).

Using georeferenced GBIF (2023) locality records available via GeoCAT, the AOO is restricted at 236 km², whilst the EOO is large, at 177,451 km². However, these values require confirmation as the GBIF data include records from near Montluçon (Allier department) and near Pamplona (western Navarre province), both out of the regions described by Boucher (2014).

There is no information available on its population size or trend. The species seems not rare in southern France (e.g. in the Toulon area; P. Moretto pers. comm. April 2023). Boucher (2014) lists many localities of the species from France and Spain.

The species inhabits mixed Mediterranean forest, mainly Quercus spp. trees on basic to neutral soils. It flies during the day until nightfall, with females more difficult to observe than males. Adults are active between June and August (Boucher 2014).

The specific current threats to this species are unknown. However, the threats identified by Méndez and Thomaes (2021) for Lucanus cervus presumably also apply in the main to this species; they identified four well-documented threats;

- habitat destruction or fragmentation (Rink and Sinsch 2007), however, they note that L. cervus can persist in habitat fragments within an agricultural landscape.

- land use change and conversion.

- climate change: whilst they found that L. cervus could be impacted negatively by increased temperatures in the southern parts of its range, it might benefit from range expansion to the north. The relevance of this to L. pontbrianti needs further research.

- increased predation by native predators such as Wild Boar and corvids.

Méndez and Thomaes (2021) discuss additional but undocumented, threats, including road mortality, collection, and genetic erosion.

This species is starting to be subject to collection and trade following its separation from Lucanus cervus ssp. cervus.

The species occurs within protected areas. For example, Viñolas and Trócoli (2017) report the species from the Parc Natural de Sant Llorenç del Munt i l’Obac in Catalonia. Occurrence in protected areas across its range in France is expected, but in France, the taxon is retained within Lucanus cervus. This species is indirectly protected under the name L. cervus through the Habitat Directive, Annex II (Boucher 2014) and Annex III of the Bern Convention.

More research on the taxonomic identity (with respect to L. cervus), distribution, population, ecology and threats to this species are needed.