Since the publication of volume 1 in 2012, Andrew Duff's Beetles of Britain and Ireland has become the definitive beetle fauna for the British Isles, being the first comprehensive account since Joy's A Practical Handbook of British Beetles, published in 1932. After the publication of volume 4 in 2016 and volume 3 in 2020, the publication of volume 2 completes this monumental task. This book covers the very large family Staphylinidae (rove beetles) exclusively. As this has been the most challenging family to prepare keys for, it was postponed to the end of this project. An extended preface to this volume provides information on finding rove beetles, collecting equipment, identification tips, rove beetle morphology, specimen preparation and curation, taking measurements, and changes to the checklist.
Volume 2 features:
- keys to 1148 species in 19 subfamilies and 254 genera, with family, subfamily and genus introductions;
- detailed species notes including supporting characters, habitat, phenology, distribution and abundance;
- a bibliography;
- 60 colour plates with 360 photographs of selected species;
- and an index to scientific and English names.