Field Guide to the Grasshoppers of Great Britain and Ireland Grasshoppers, Crickets, Earwigs, Cockroaches, Stick-Insects and Mantids

About this book

A beautifully illustrated reference guide that will enable confident identification of British orthoptera.

Grasshoppers are conspicuous for their giant leaping movements, bright colours and song. There has never been a better time to study these insects in Britain: over recent decades, some species have declined, others have expanded their range,s and there have even been new discoveries of species that have come across from mainland Europe.

This pioneering guide lays bare the complexities of identification of the 80 or so species that may be encountered in the British Isles. An engaging introduction explains why orthopteroid insects are so intriguing and rewarding to study, and how the pursuit can take you to visit extraordinary places. The illustrated 'At-a-glance' guide and key to the orders provide a helpful starting point to begin the process of identification, leading to the main species accounts that include details of distinguishing features, life-cycle and habitat, tips for distinguishing between similar species, distribution maps, sonograms and QR codes linking to sound recordings. The text is brought to life with Richard Lewington's meticulous artwork, alongside photographs of the insects in their characteristic habitats.

Designed to be accessible to beginners while also offering plenty of interest to more experienced entomologists, this book is the definitive guide to the Orthoptera of the British Isles.

Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
Why study the orthopteroid insects?
General anatomy
Classification
Key to the orders and suborders of adult orthopteroid insects of Britain and Ireland
Life history
Variation
Feeding
Song: communication through sound
Courtship and mating
Egg-laying
Movement, migration and dispersal
Enemies
Distribution of orthopteroid insects in Great Britain and Ireland
Threats
Conservation
Studying and recording orthopteroid insects
Regional guides
How to use this field guide

Earwigs (order Dermaptera)
Bush-crickets, crickets, grasshoppers and groundhoppers (order Orthoptera)
Cockroaches and termites (order Blattodea)
Mantids (order Mantodea)
Stick-insects (order Phasmida)
Potential new orthopteroid species
Checklist of the orthopteroid insects of Great Britain and Ireland

Useful resources
Glossary
Distribution maps
Photographic credits
Index

Customer Reviews

Biography

Peter Sutton has coordinated the Grasshoppers and Related Insects Recording Scheme for 18 years and contributes a regular column to British Wildlife magazine documenting the changes that have occurred to this group of insects in the British Isles. He has also written the IUCN threat status review for Orthoptera, as well as the book The Larger Water Beetles of the British Isles, and has published many other entomological pieces.

Björn Beckmann is a research ecologist at the British Trust for Ornithology. Previously he worked at the Biological Records Centre (BRC) where he coordinated the Grasshoppers and Related Insects Recording Scheme with Peter Sutton from 2009 to 2024. He analysed the scheme’s data for his PhD, and along with colleagues at BRC he created the iRecord Grasshoppers mobile app and the scheme website. Björn also organised the Royal Entomological Society’s annual day of orthopteran research talks from 2013 to 2020.

Richard Lewington is an acknowledged leader in the field of insect illustration. His meticulous paintings of wildlife are the mainstay of many of the modern classics of field-guide art, including The Butterflies of Britain and Ireland, Field Guide to the Moths of Great Britain and Ireland, Guide to Garden Wildlife and Field Guide to the Bees of Great Britain and Ireland. Richard has also designed and illustrated wildlife stamps for several countries. In 1999 he was awarded Butterfly Conservation's Marsh Award for the promotion of Lepidoptera conservation, and in 2010 the Zoological Society of London's Stamford Raffles Award for contribution to zoology. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Entomological Society.