Insect I.D Books

[Wild Angus]

Hi,
I have recently started getting more into Macro photography taking shots of insects etc, can anyone recomend a book that will enable me to identify the critters, i have a few but 9 out of 10 times the bugs i find aren't in the book.
Cheers
Brian
Ps only interested in UK critters

[Geoff F]

If you can correctly identify 1 in 10 from the average book, Brian, you are doing well.

The more comprehensive literature tends to be rather specialist, expensive and quite often out of print.

But for some reasonably comprehensive and sensibly priced books I would suggest considering: Collins Complete Guide to British Insects by Michael Chinery which should be widely available.

The Aidgap series of identification keys produced by The Field Studies Council cover a number of species and are reasonably easy to use. They should get you to the correct family and possibly further. http://www.field-studies-council.org...ns/aidgap.aspx

There are also a selection of free ID Keys available on various websites.

But initially, after the Collins Guide, I would suggest thinking about which species interest you most and obtain specialist literature about these subjects.

Once you decide what are going to be your chief species we can advise you a little more specifically.

ps. A word of warning; macro photography soon becomes addictive and expensive!

[Wild Angus]

Originally Posted by Geoff F

If you can correctly identify 1 in 10 from the average book, Brian, you are doing well.

The more comprehensive literature tends to be rather specialist, expensive and quite often out of print.

But for some reasonably comprehensive and sensibly priced books I would suggest considering: Collins Complete Guide to British Insects by Michael Chinery which should be widely available.

The Aidgap series of identification keys produced by The Field Studies Council cover a number of species and are reasonably easy to use. They should get you to the correct family and possibly further. FSC Publications - AIDGAP identification guides

There are also a selection of free ID Keys available on various websites.

But initially, after the Collins Guide, I would suggest thinking about which species interest you most and obtain specialist literature about these subjects.

Once you decide what are going to be your chief species we can advise you a little more specifically.

ps. A word of warning; macro photography soon becomes addictive and expensive!

Thanks for the info Geoff, i have ordered a copy of the Collins book for starters and will investigate the field study stuff, your right about addictive 9-) i am disabled and the photography keeps me occupied inside and out when weathers fine and really makes you take note of all the creatures we share this planet with and amazed at how beautiful something like a common fly is when magnified! guess you could say i have caught the Bug 8-)
Thanks again for your help
Brian
Ps I use a Fuji S100fs complete with Raynox DCR-150, DCR-250, Marumi 200 and few other lenses its a superb camera for Macro stuff and i find it easy to use thanks to the tilting lcd screen which saves my joints LoL
Cheers