Books

2nd revised edition. Comprehensive checklist of Beetles recorded from Great Britain and Ireland, including the Isle of Man, but not the Channel Islands.

Intended as a reference source for coleopterists. Brings together reliable modern keys and the latest taxonomic arrangement and nomenclature.  Copious line drawings are provided alongside the keys to illustrate critical characters, and detailed species notes are given, including supporting characters, habitat, phenology, distribution and abundance. High resolution colour photographs of selected species, at least one per genus, are also provided in a series of colour plates.

Volume 4 is the second volume to be published in this series that will cover all British and Irish beetles.

There are over 650 British beetles not included in Norman Joy's "Practical Handbook of British beetles". Some of these are new arrivals from the Continent or farther afield. Several formerly rare species have recently increased and some doubtful species have been confirmed as occurring, or having once occurred, in Britain. Others have been confused with other species or overlooked and many groups have undergone taxonomic revision. "New British Beetles" puts these changes into perspective, and offers the British coleopterist a new look at Joy's book, a reference to the current British fauna and the changes that have taken place. Currently out of print but may be possibel to find via libraries or second-hand book suppliers.

A two-volume work on the British beetle fauna, by Norman H. Joy, first published in January 1932 but now out of print. Instead an electronic version is available.

Despite its age, it has remained the standard work on the identification of British beetles into the 21st century. British coleopterists refer to the book colloquially simply as "Joy".

This AIDGAP identification key will help non-specialists to identify all families of British beetles - of which there are nearly 100 in total. Over 4000 different species of beetles occur in Britain. Their huge diversity in form, behaviour and ecology make them a daunting group for those attempting beetle identification for the first time. To help overcome these barriers for the non-specialist, complex terminology, obscure characters and the need for expensive equipment has been avoided. Ecological notes are included, and the extensive bibliography will direct the reader to species identification if required.

The Society publishes a list of Handbooks for the identification of British insects. A selection of out of print handbooks are available as downloads from the RES website.