Beetles of Britain and Ireland: Volume 1: Sphaeriusidae to Silphidae

Beetles of Britain and Ireland provides a series of comprehensive identification guides to the adult Coleoptera of the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, and the British Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man.

Volume 1: Sphaeriusidae to Silphidae
Volume 2: Staphylinidae
Volume 3: Geotrupidae to Scraptiidae
Volume 4: Cerambycidae to Curculionidae

These books are intended as a reference source for coleopterists, ecological consultants and museum curatorial staff, as well as naturalists wishing to make the transition from a casual to a more serious interest in beetles. By bringing together reliable modern keys and using the latest taxonomic arrangement and nomenclature, it is hoped that beginning coleopterists will more quickly learn how to identify beetles and gain added confidence in their identifications.

Volume 1 provides keys to 887 species in 18 families, with family and genus introductions as well as detailed species notes including supporting characters, habitat, phenology, distribution and abundance. It includes the familiar whirligig, diving, ground and carrion beetles, as well as the ‘hydrophiloid’ group of water beetle families, hister beetles and others. A chapter on the minute and very difficult featherwing beetles is provided by the expert guest author, Michael Darby. This volume also includes a chapter on external beetle morphology and a key to beetle families.