Sections

I recently ordered some Royal Entomological Society insect handbooks and they all arrived today. They were discounted due to damp damage which seems superficial; one of the covers had some marks which I removed with a damp cloth and some of the staple-bound books have rusty staples that I plan to replace. The books also have a slight damp smell that I hope will disappear after some airing.

Most of the discounted books are for Diptera but they also had some on aphids and sawflies. The handbook list can be found on the RES publications page.

The Local reports that a new species of longhorn beetle (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) has been confirmed in Sweden. The new species, Leiopus linnei, is very similar to L. nebulosus but DNA barcoding combined with the examination of male genetalia and female spermathecae support its establishment as a separate species. The original article was published in Zootaxa.

When I started this blog, one of my aims was to provide some book recommendations. Today I shall list three books which I have found very useful, especially when I first started to study insects more seriously.

‘Domino Guide to the Insects of Britain and Western Europe‘ by Michael Chinery

This book is fantastic and is my favourite general field guide because it has excellent colour illustrations accompanied with important identification features, some notes of nymphs/larvae, sexual dimorphism and concise descriptions of many families. It also covers some other arthropods “which the beginner might confuse with insects”.

‘Essential Entomology: An Order-by-Order Introduction‘ by George C. McGavin

For readers looking to learn more about the different types of insects with some basic insect biology, I would recommend this book. It is more accessible than the following recommended book by Gullan and Cranston, giving the reader an informative tour through the insect orders.

‘The Insects: An Outline of Entomology‘ by P.J. Gullan and P. Cranston

This was our recommended MSc Entomology course textbook which I bought and started reading well before the course started. As implied by the title, this book gives a summary of the important sections of entomology ranging from anatomy and reproduction to parasitism and evolution. Each chapter has a useful list of recommended further reading.

I intend to have a page soley for recommended books once I have listed some more.

I have been hunting for some books on Amazon and remembered about Pemberley Books, a fantastic natural history bookshop based in Buckinghamshire that has an extensive range of well-priced entomology books.

They have an online shop which I would recommend as I’ve had efficient service from them before and the staff are very helpful.

Learn more about a different insect order for the new year!