Collins Complete British Insects

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View books by Michael Chinery.

Great book - Rated
I was initially looking for a butterfly book when I came across this. A quick browse and it was in my shopping basket!
As previous reviewers have pointed out, it's not totally inclusive, but come on, it's a paperback, in one volume.
To be complete, covering as many groups as this does, you'd need volumes and volumes.
As a beginners/general interest book it hits the mark.
It covers most of the common examples you are likely to see.
The book starts with a nice introduction to the biology and ecology of insects. Each order (technical name for an insect group) has it's own picture, information about that order, and a page reference to get you started on your search.
Once you've got the right order, the pages are lavishly covered with photographs, making identification fairly easy.
I particularly like the sections on the larval stages of butterflies and moths.
I've spent happy hours going 'Oh, so that's what it is!'
If you are looking to get started identifying bugs in your garden/house or further afield, this is one of the most easily used and comprehensive guides you're likely to find without spending a fortune!

About as Comprehensive as it Gets - Rated

Not everybody's cup of tea I know, but for those of us who are interested in flora and fauna a comprehensive guide the covers 1,500 species of insects that can be found in Britain. The photographs are extremely good, as they usually are in all Collins books and there are some unusual little `bugs' for the amateur naturalist to look out for.

Details of whether the insects are common or rare are available and each section is coded for easy reference for the reader. Information for each species is clear and concise and each insect group is deal with individually. All in all an extremely useful and interesting book.

best available - Rated
The title should be Common British Insects or similar - there are more species of beetles than there are species covered by this book.What I like best is that it doesnt include species not found here - typically N.Europe is included in these sorts of guides no doubt to improve sales on the continent.An image taken from one angle is not always enough to iD an insect but at least you can narrow down to a family then google on bioimages.org.uk
Too many moths, not enough flies for balance but a worthy attempt.

Great pictures, reasonable descriptions but not complete. - Rated
Initially I was disappointed with this book. It doesn't cover as many insect species as I'd hoped. All the main families are covered and most of the common specimens likely to be encounted are in the book.

Beetles are a personal favourite of mine and I would have liked to have seen this section expanded to cover more species.

The Author confesses to having an interest in moths in his acknowledgments which is reflected in the space given to Moth species- too much for a general insect guide.

Grumbles aside, the book is well layed out with nice pictures and concise descriptions.

If you don't possess an insect guide already and are looking for a good general guide to insects look no further. It's not as 'Complete' as i would like though.