Beetles of Britain and Ireland is a new four-volume identification guide to the adult Coleoptera of the Republic of Ireland, the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, and the British Crown Dependency of the Isle of Man. It is the first comprehensive account of the beetles of the British Isles since Joy's A Practical Handbook of British Beetles, published in 1932.
Beetles of Britain and Ireland is intended as a reference source for coleopterists, ecological consultants and museum curatorial staff, as well as naturalists wishing to make the transition from a casual to a more serious interest in beetles. By bringing together reliable modern keys and using the latest taxonomic arrangement and nomenclature, it is hoped that beginning coleopterists will more quickly learn how to identify beetles and gain added confidence in their identifications. Keys are provided to every native and naturalised species, including ones which have become extinct in historical times. Copious line drawings are provided alongside the keys to illustrate critical characters. High-resolution colour photographs of selected species, at least one per genus, are also provided in a series of colour plates.
Four volumes have been published:
- Volume 1: Sphaeriusidae to Silphidae
- Volume 2: Staphylinidae
- Volume 3: Geotrupidae to Scraptiidae
- Volume 4: Cerambycidae to Curculionidae