Beetle ID book reconmmendations

[pammosley]

Hi, as you can tell I`ve been trying to ID different beetles lately. I`ve found a couple of good websites, but can anyone recommend a good book. I`ve found the Guide to Coleoptera on Amateur Etymologist but is it worth the cost £54? I need one with good pictures & easy to understand text

[RobSutton]

It's such a big group I'm not sure such a thing exisits.

For a long time the standard work was: A Practical Handbook of British Beetles, Vols I & II by Norman H. Joy this I think was first published in the 1930's so the taxonomy is probably a little dated. It has been re-released as an e-book by Pisces Conservation with both volumes on a single CD. I don't think it would count as an easy one to get to grips with though.

[Dogghound]

I might be wrong but I dont think such a book exists. Most beetle (coleoptera) books look at a family or several closely related families and are more structured towards keys than photo's. Ladybirds and ground beetles are the most popular beetle books.

[Naturenutz]

Ive just passed on a very early book called the young beetle collectors handbook. published 1908.Some nice colour plates but no not an in depth book.I would be interested to find a far more in depth book for identification purposes.

[JRsbugs]

Here's a few sites I use, the UK ones have write ups on most there but not all sites have all beetles. They will go a long way towards most though. The German site has a very good layout with an example of each family on one page, the rest once you click on the link. It doesn't have them all either but has more than most.

http://thewcg.org.uk/pages/thumbnails.htm

kerbtier.de - Fotos Familien-Übersicht Käfer (Coleoptera)

Photogallery Beetles

This German site can be very useful if you can navigate it.

Coleoptera - photo gallery beetles - Fotogalerie Kfer

If you need Ladybird sites I have those too.

Janet

[pammosley]

Thanks everyone for your advice. I thought I`d be struggling to get a book that covers all types
Janet, those links look great & will help me alot. I found the last German one this morning while I was searching for something that turned out to be a bug
I have alot to learn but are very keen to try & identify what I see. Thanks to everyone for their patience

[poschiavanus]

There was such a book, an english translation of a german book, author was K. Harde and it was published by Blitz Editions. It might be possible to find a second hand copy (apparently they sold them off in The Works at £2 a go about 5 years ago). The illustrations are good, and the author was one of the editors of the standard reference work on beetles in Germany.

This book is still available in german as Kosmos Kaeferfuehrer (Kosmos Beetle Guide) at about 15 EUR + postage online, but also possibly in stock at NHBS or Pemberley Books.

[ChrisR]

I'm fairly sure that the only comprehensive 'book' on beetles is a combination of the 2 volumes of Joy - plus the follow-up 'Beetles not in Joy' (also nicknamed 'No Joy' ) Joy's books are fairly old-fashioned in their layout and key styles and there are no pretty pictures - just line drawings. You'll also need to have a fairly good dissecting microscope too.

As others have said, it is possible to nibble away at Coleoptera by tackling some of the groups that have been covered in smaller, more up to date volumes - such as the Ladybirds, Ground beetles etc.

[tristanba]

The recent RES handbook for the Carabidae (ground beetles) is a very nice book and very good value at about £20.

The Carabidae (ground beetles) of Britain and Ireland. Martin Luff. Handbooks for the Identification fo British Insects Vol 4 Part 2 (2nd ed)

[Paul mabbott]

As other folks have said - there is no such beast. Just use a general insect book by Fitter to point you in the direction of a family (mostly) and then you have to get a book on family.

Alternatively you can take out a second mortgage, get your bookshelves reinforced, learn German and try to find a complete set of Die Kafer Mitteleuropas.

Beetles (even more so flies, bugs &c) really need taking in small doses with the aid of a knowledgable acquaintance ....

Originally Posted by pammosley

Hi, as you can tell I`ve been trying to ID different beetles lately. I`ve found a couple of good websites, but can anyone recommend a good book. I`ve found the Guide to Coleoptera on Amateur Etymologist but is it worth the cost £54? I need one with good pictures & easy to understand text