GUIDES TO THE IDENTIFICATION OF PLANTS AND ANIMALS
The arrival in the post earlier this week of an unexpected handbook - Broad-nosed Weevils (Coleoptera; Curculionidae (Entiminae) by M.G.Morris, published by the Royal Entomological Society in association with the Field Studies Council - was very welcome as it now enables me to slaughter unwanted vine weevils safe in the knowledge that I am not killing other weevils I have no desire to harm. It also prompts me to write about the various very useful identification guides produced by, and obtainable from, the Field Studies Council.
The Field Studies Council has for a great many years run field courses at its various centres scattered around Britain and is well aware of the need for good identification guides covering the whole range of British plant and animal life. Any such guide needs to be of real practical value, capable of being used by a wide range of people under both field conditions and at home with very little equipment - no more than a pocket lens. As a consequence the Field Studies Council now produces three different series of guides to cope with different needs.
The simplest identification guides are their OP series. These are 8 or 12 page laminated fold-out charts aimed at a broad audience from school children to adults with a general interest in natural history. Some are fully waterproofed to encourage their use in the open. Currently, there are 24 titles available in this series including:-
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Grasses identification chart (1995) OP 33 £2.50 |
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Lichens and air pollution (1995) OP 33 £2.50 |
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Plants common on moorlands (1998) OP 46 £2.50 |
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Woodland plants (1998) OP 50 £2.50 |
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Commoner water plants (2000) OP 57 £3.25 |
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Butterflies of Britain (1998) OP 48 £2.50 |
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British land mammals (1998) OP 49 £2.50 |
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Dragonflies and damselflies of Britain (1999) OP 53 £3.25 |
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Reptiles and amphibians of Britain and Ireland (1999) OP 55 32.50 |
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British bats (2001) OP 65 £2.50 |
The Council's second series of guides are the AIDGAP project. This acronym stands for Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants. Although the really 'popular' groups such as wild flowers and butterflies are well-served by numerous aids to identification, many other groups are neglected, at least in part because people do not know where to turn for helpful advice on the identification of specimens from such groups. The aim of the AIDGAP series is to pinpoint those groups for which the dificulty of identification is due to the absence of a simple and accurate key, and to produce for them, simple, well illustrated and clearly written aids to identification. Currently, 25 AIDGAP guides are available or are in the press at the time I write, including:-
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Bees, ants and wasps: the British Aculeates (19850 £5.00 |
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A key to the adults of British water beetles (1988) Offprint 189 £10.95 |
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British sawflies: a key to the adults of the genera occurring in Britain (1990) Offprint 203 £6.95 |
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A key to the woodlice of Britain and Ireland (1991) Offprint 204 £6.95 |
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A key to the adults of British lacewings and their allies (1997) Offprint 245 £6.95 |
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Keys to Galls. Identification of galls on plants and fungi - in the press |
The third series produced by the Field Studies Council is their Synopses of the British Fauna. These are detailed accounts of a particular group of animals and bridge the gap between the popular guides and the more specialised monographs and treatises. They are deliberately intended to be intelligible to readers with no previous knowledge of the group concerned and yet be accurate guides. Technical terms are kept to a minimum and many of the publications do have a glossary where such technical terms are inevitable. Currently, 29 Synopses are available including:-
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Earthworms (1999) Synopsis 31 (revised) £21.00 |
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Ticks of North-West Europe (1996) Synopsis 52 £19.50 |
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Woodlice (1993) Synopsis 49 £16.50 |
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British Harvestmen (1989) Synopsis 4 (Second Edition) £16.50 |
Orders can be sent to, and a full list of all publications can be obtained from:-
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The Field Studies Council (Publications), |
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Preston Montford, |
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Shrewsbury SY4 1HW |
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Telephone - 01743 852140 |
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Website - www.field-studies-council.org |
Robert Yates