Language: English
This second edition is completey updated compared to the first edition published in 2000.
This new guide to phytophagous beetles of Europe is devoted to the families Buprestidae, Elateridae, Cleridae and Cerambycidae. A host of species are described and illustrated, to help you recognise and identify almost all the Jewel beetle and Longhorn species you might encounter in Europe, ranging from Portugal and Great Britain to Finland and the Balkans. These include species quite recently described.
Phytophagous Beetles of Europe, Volume 1 is packed with new information and discoveries, enriching the entries on the biology in general and the ethology and ecology of each species in particular, allowing for the many additional host-plants found over the past few years.
Distribution maps, drawn up in line with the most recent publications, feature alongside the descriptions. The new classification adopted is from the Catalogue of Palaearctic Coleoptera, by Löbl and Smetana, published from 2003 to 2013, now used by all entomologists. This resolves many of the problems that stem from working with synonymies.
"[...] The book is in a compact format and although difficult to flatten out at first, it appears to be robustly bound. It is beautifully presented. The text is clear and the painted colour plates are bright and appear to be of very high quality [...] The plates are situated in the middle of the book, which is never ideal [...] Most people agree that it is better to put the plates after the species accounts, but some publishers don't seem to understand that. [...] Species coverage is not entirely 100%, but full coverage is not claimed [...] There is no glossary and although many anatomical terms are covered by the annotated drawings on the insides of the front and back covers a number of descriptive terms used in the text are not. A species list would also have been a useful addition. Some of the groups described are covered by recent publications (or keys available on the internet) on the British and Irish fauna. Nevertheless, I recommend this book to anyone interested in the beetle families it covers, whether or not they intend to record beetles abroad."
– Martin Townsend, Atropos 61, 2018