With their extraordinary diversity, adaptability and abundance, insects and other invertebrates are the gardener's greatest foe. Packed with stunning photography, Michael Chinery's Garden Pests of Britain and Europe provides a reader-friendly introduction to the identification of 200 of the commonest insect pests of the backyard, along with other invertebrates such as slugs, snails and millipedes. Introductory sections provide a brief discussion of insect biology, beneficial species, and an overview of environmentally friendly control methods, such as crop rotation and biological control. Each species account gives detailed photographically-based identification tips for adults and larvae, an introduction to the biology of the species, and advice on how to deal with it.
Michael Chinery is one of Britain's best-known natural history authors. Specialising in bringing the wonderful world of arthropod life to the general reader, his previous titles include the seminal Insects of Britain and Western Europe (Collins) - a book indispensable to professional and amateur entomologists alike - which A&C Black published in paperback in 2008.
"Helping to identify 200 common garden pests [...] readers benefit from a brief introduction to insect biology, as well as a guide to beneficial species. For those who prefer a pictorial guide to garden nasties, this title has macro photography of garden bugs."
- Amateur Gardening (January 2011)
"Know your enemy with this accessible pocket guide, full of useful photographs."
- Gardens Illustrated (February 2011)
"This is a great identification guide for garden pests."
- Garden Answers (March 2011)