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    Pocket Guide to Insects
    Pocket Guide to Insects
    Pocket Guide to Insects
    Ebook349 pages1 hour

    Pocket Guide to Insects

    By Bob Gibbons

    ()

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    About this ebook

    A compact guide covering everything you need to know about insects of the UK.

    This pocket-sized book is an essential guide to insects, helping you to identify around 240 of the most easily noticed British species selected from a range of orders and families. The introduction covers the characteristics of an insect, where to find them as well as the conservation work in demand around the world, then entries on each species are divided into simple sections covering general information followed by its flight period, habitat and similar species.

    As visually impressive as it is useful in the field, Pocket Guide to Insects features many stunning full-page and double-page images supporting the authoritative text.

    Part of the Pocket Guides series covering British and European wildlife, including garden birds, butterflies, mushrooms, wild flowers, trees and shrubs and tracks and signs.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBloomsbury Publishing
    Release dateSep 25, 2014
    ISBN9781472915559
    Pocket Guide to Insects
    Author

    Bob Gibbons

    Bob Gibbons is a renowned botanist, author and tour leader who is based in Dorset but has travelled across much of Europe and the world in search of wildlife. His previous titles include Wildflower Wonders of the World.

    Read more from Bob Gibbons

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      Book preview

      Pocket Guide to Insects - Bob Gibbons

      CONTENTS

      Introduction

      Mayflies, Ephemeroptera

      Damselflies and Dragonflies, Odonata

      Damselflies

      Dragonflies

      Stoneflies, Plecoptera

      Crickets and Grasshoppers, Orthoptera

      Bush-crickets

      True Crickets

      Grasshoppers

      Groundhoppers

      Cockroaches and Mantises, Dictyoptera

      Earwigs, Dermaptera

      True Bugs, Hemiptera

      Heteroptera

      Homoptera

      Aphids

      Ant-lions, Lacewings and allies, Neuroptera

      Alder Flies, Megaloptera

      Scorpion Flies, Mecoptera

      Butterflies and Moths, Lepidoptera

      Butterflies

      Moths

      Caddis Flies, Trichoptera

      True Flies, Diptera

      Hoverflies

      Volucella bombylans and other large hoverflies

      Drone-flies

      Picture-winged flies

      Sawflies, Ants, Wasps, Bees and relatives, Hymenoptera

      Sawflies and Wood wasps

      Gall-forming wasps

      Ichneumons

      Ants

      Wasps

      Social wasps

      Bees

      Bumblebees

      Cuckoo bees

      Beetles, Coleoptera

      Dung beetles

      Chafers

      Soldier beetles

      Ladybirds

      Longhorn beetles

      Leaf-beetles

      Springtails, Collembola

      Glossary

      Bibliography and Resources

      Organisations and Societies

      INTRODUCTION

      There are about 24,000 known species of insects in the British Isles, in a vast variety of forms, so you might reasonably wonder what use a little book on insects like this might be. In fact, the great majority of insects are quite small, often barely noticed, and hard to identify without specialised knowledge and equipment. For this book about 240 easily noticed species (including secondary species, with only a short entry) have been selected from a range of orders and families. They can all be identified reasonably easily in the field. No attempt has been made to cover the range of species for butterflies and moths, as both groups are fully covered in other books, including a forthcoming one in this series.

      The geographical area covered is essentially the British Isles, including Ireland, but with a nod to the nearby Continent. A few non-British species are included, either because they are commonly seen in the adjacent parts of continental Europe, or because they are likely to occur here in the near future.

      HOW TO USE THIS BOOK

      This is essentially a photographic guide, without keys, so the best starting point is to look through the photographs to find something similar to what you have seen. The information for the larger orders, such as flies and beetles, includes an introduction to help confirm the general identity of your species. If it does not quite fit, check nearby pages and also any similar species mentioned at the end of the species account. It is also worth looking at the information given on size, normal habitats, distribution in the region and flight period to try to confirm an identification. The following information is provided under separate headings within the acounts.

      Flight period gives an indication of when the adult insect is likely to be seen. Some insects do not actually fly – this is just a convenient term for the adult period. Bear in mind that in particularly warm or cool sites, or in unusual years, the adults may be seen outside the given period.

      Habitat and distribution gives the normal habitats of the species, for example woodland, but of course many species are quite mobile and turn up in other habitats, especially if they are attracted by lights at night. Some details of where the species occur in Britain and Ireland are given, but they are usually simplifications, and many species are spreading or declining, so this information should not be considered as a defining feature.

      Similar species gives an indication either of species that might be confused with the main one, or of some closely related species. In many cases there are a great many rather similar species, and in these instances it is hard to say anything useful in a small space.

      Perfect insect habitat – flowery, sheltered and bushy.

      WHAT IS AN INSECT?

      Insects are part of the enormous invertebrate group known as the arthropods, which includes many non-insect animals such as spiders, harvestmen, millipedes and others. The main characteristic of the group is the possession of a hard external shell or skeleton, with flexible joints that allow the animal to move. Insects are defined within the group by some or all of these features:

      1.The presence of wings. No arthropods other than insects have wings, although not all insects have wings.

      2.Insects normally have three pairs of legs. Although some insects have fewer legs, the three pairs are usually visible at some point in the life-cycle, or there is at least an indication of where they should be. They never have more than three pairs of legs.

      THE BODY DESIGN OF A COMMON EARWIG

      Fig. 1

      3.Insect bodies are usually clearly divided into a head, thorax and abdomen. There are usually two antennae on the head, and the thorax bears the legs and wings if present. Most winged insects have two pairs of wings, but the diptera have only one pair, with the hind pair being replaced by a couple of tiny balancing organs called halteres. The general structure of a typical insect – a Common Earwig – is shown in fig. 1. Other insects differ in shape and details, but most of these parts are found on all insects. See the glossary for descriptions of some other insect parts.

      FINDING INSECTS

      Although insects are everywhere, it can be surprisingly difficult to find specific species, or groups of insects such as dragonflies, without local knowledge. In general the best way to discover a range of interesting and attractive insects is by visiting high-quality semi-natural habitats, such as chalk grassland (especially in June and July), old woodland (especially in spring), heathland (especially in summer) and wetlands such as bogs, pools and lakes. All of these will be rich in insect life unless badly polluted.

      Nature reserves frequently preserve the best examples of these habitats, and most are open to the public. Some examples of organisations that have reserves are given in the Organisations and Societies section. It is also worth searching the internet as there are many websites that give details of good sites for particular species or groups.

      When out in the field it is worth walking slowly and scanning ahead, trying to see the larger insects before they see you. If you approach slowly they will often not see you as a threat and may stay put.

      INSECT CONSERVATION

      Insects are declining alarmingly in most developed countries. The combination of habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and widespread use of pesticides and other damaging chemicals has led to huge losses of numbers, and many species have become extinct in recent decades. Tragic in itself, this loss also affects our populations of birds, bats and other animals that are so dependent on insects.

      It is little wonder that insect conservation has lagged behind that of other major groups – insects are small and often inconspicuous, there is an overwhelming number of species and insects are often perceived as damaging. We also frequently know little about what insect species need to flourish. Yet they are a really vital part of the web of natural life, and more needs to be done. Several organisations listed are specifically concerned with insect conservation, and of course the general nature conservation organisations help by protecting good habitats. Join as many of these as you can, and get involved.

      Footnote: An asterisk * denotes that the species does not regularly occur in the UK.

      MAYFLIES, EPHEMEROPTERA

      A group of about 50 species in Britain, the mayflies are an interesting primitive order of insects with some unusual features. Eggs are laid by the female on the water’s surface, and these hatch into nymphs that undergo many moults before emerging as winged insects. This is the only insect group in which the fully winged insect is not the adult. The winged stages are known as duns, and do not have full adult colours or mature sexual organs; shortly after, they moult again into the fully coloured adult insects, which are known as spinners. In most species these adults live for a very short time – sometimes just for a few hours – and they do not feed. They exist only to mate and disperse.

      The bodies of mayflies are soft and slightly flattened, and there are two or three long ‘tails’ at the rear of the abdomen and very short antennae. The front legs of males are particularly long. There are two pairs of delicate wings, but the hindwings are much smaller than the front wings and may

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