The go-to photographic guide to Britain and Ireland’s insects Britain’s Insects is an innovative, up-to-date, carefully designed and beautifully illustrated field guide to Britain and Ireland's twenty-five insect orders, concentrating on popular groups and species that can be identified in the field. Featuring superb photographs of live insects, the guide covers the key aspects of identification and provides information on status, distribution, seasonality, habitat, food plants and behaviour. It also offers insight into the life history of the various insect groups, many of which are truly amazing. This is the go-to guide for entomologists, naturalists, gardeners, wildlife photographers and anyone else interested in insects, whatever their level of knowledge. More than 2,600 stunning photographs, carefully selected to show key identification features Photo guides to every insect order, covering 316 families and almost 850 genera Covers 1,653 species, of which 1,476 are illustrated Designed to allow easy, accurate comparison of similar species Up-to-date distribution maps and charts summarizing adult seasonality QR codes that link to sound recordings of grasshoppers and crickets Information on photographing and recording insects to help conservation

Water bugs are familiar insects in aquatic habitats throughout the World. They belong to the order Hemiptera, the largest insect order with incomplete metamorphosis. There are basically two kinds: (1) the semiaquatic bugs (Gerromorpha) which live upon the water surface, and (2) the true water bugs (Nepomorpha) which live beneath the water surface. Water bugs are found in a wide variety of natural habitats from small, temporary pools to larger ponds and lakes, from small streams to rivers, and from inland freshwater bodies to coastal mangroves, tidal pools of coral reefs, and the surface of the ocean. Water bugs are chiefly predators or scavengers, feeding on any prey they can master, from tiny crustaceans and insects to tadpoles and small fish. They play a major role in aquatic ecosystems and may serve as indicators of the biological quality of aquatic habitats. They are chiefly beneficial to man since many species prey on mosquitoes and are themselves preyed upon by fish. Because of their diverse lifestyles and because they are easily observed in their natural habitats, water bugs are excellent model organisms in evolutionary biology, ecology, and conservation biology. This handbook is the first comprehensive guide facilitating the identification of Australian water bugs. It provides an overview on all 15 families, 17 subfamilies, and 55 genera known to occur on mainland Australia, Tasmania and nearby islands. Illustrated keys, featuring a minimum of technical language, are offered to assist with the identification of adult water bugs. For each genus, the handbook includes a description of the characters used to identify the genus and to separate the genus from similar genera, an illustration to show overall appearance (“habitus”) of a representative species, an illustrated key to species recorded from Australia, overview of the biology of the genus, and a map showing the locations where the genus has been found in Australia.

The infraorder Pentatomomorpha is the subject of the second volume in the Zoological Catalogue of Australia series dealing with the true bugs (the suborder Heteroptera). It includes the bark bugs, stilt bugs, seed bugs, cotton stainers, burrowing bugs, shield bugs and stink bugs. Many of these species are of significant economic importance both as pests and as natural enemies of other insect pests. In this catalogue, the authors propose a new classification for the Australian Heteroptera based on the most recent developments in heteropterology worldwide. The proposed classification departs significantly from all previous treatment of the Australian fauna. There is a comprehensive treatment of the classification and nomenclature of the Australian species and a thorough review of the literature concerned with the higher classification of the Pentatomomorpha. The volume gives detailed information on the distribution and ecology of each species and features the first in depth listing of their host associations, including a significant accounting of the plant associations. All species and generic synonymies are given, including extra-limital synonyms, along with detailed type specimen data. Features * Provides a new classification for the Australian Heteroptera, reflecting the most recent developments in Heteropterology worldwide * Covers 34 families, 439 genera and 1179 species * Completes the work for the Australian Heteroptera, complementing volume 27.3A * Includes comprehensive synonymical and bibliographic listings and detailed distribution information * Gives the first listing of the host plants of the Pentatomomorpha in Australia * Sample