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Useful Websites to aid Invertebrate Identification
Compiled by Alan Outen, with input from other recorders.
There are now many electronic resources available via the internet that are potentially valuable aids for the identification of invertebrates, and sites are constantly evolving. Some of the general forums (strictly fora) are not really very helpful and can sometimes evoke large numbers of responses from individuals whom it would seem are often less knowledgeable than those posing the questions, resulting in wrong and misleading identifications. Other sites are superb with the identifications generally posted by specialists. Those listed below are some of the websites and National Recording Schemes that I have found useful and can therefore recommend. I have worked through all major groups of invertebrates occurring in Bedfordshire indicating what is available and that I find useful. Please bear in mind that the list is by no means exhaustive and what follows is very much a personal list of the sites that I have found particularly good, with a few that other BNHS recorders have contributed. Hopefully others may add to this in future.
Do remember that National Scheme Organisers and other specialists are likely to be busy so do ask them before sending either images or specimens. They will then advise whether, when and how you should send these.
COLLEMBOLA (Springtails)
The National Recording Scheme Co-ordinator is Dr Peter Shaw who is happy to look at digital
photographs of Collembola but may be unable to put a record on the national database without you sending a preserved specimen to check.
To post samples, immerse then in 70% alcohol in a small leak-proof glass tube, wrap securely and send to his postal address. The website
for a great deal of very useful further information is now at:
urweb.roehampton.ac.uk/collembola/
This includes a modern national checklist, distribution maps and many
superb illustrations. (originally derived from the late Steve Hopkin who was tragically killed in a car accident in 2006).
A site with a really superb gallery of illustrations by Jan van Duinen is www.janvanduinen.nl/collembolaengels.html
This will give you access to sections covering a large number of elongate and globular species. Jan is also very helpful.
Also, an excellent site with many illustrations is www.collembola.org. This is the website of Frans Janssens, the leading European specialist on this group, He is also very helpful.
ARCHEOGNATHA, ZYGENTOMA (formerly together in Thysanura), DIPLURA & PROTURA
There is much less available on these groups though National Recorder Matt Prince is developing a website at www.bristletail.net/british_isles/index.html. This includes checklists, keys and some illustrations. Mark Telfer has prepared a useful key to Diplura.
EPHEMEROPTERA, PLECOPTERA and TRICHOPTERA
There are National Recording Schemes for all these three orders Ephemeroptera (Mayflies) coordinated by Craig Macadam; Plecoptera (Stoneflies) coordinated by David Pryce; and Trichoptera (Caddisflies) coordinated by Dr Ian Wallace.
These three groups come under the Riverfly Partnership hosted by another excellent website at www.riverflies.org From this you will find links to each individual order, with up-to-date national checklists, some illustrations, published keys and other information as well as contact details for the three schemes. All three National Recorders have looked at images of mine and have also offered to look at specimens.
The website at www.delta-intkey.com/britin/tri/index.htm is a useful guide to caddis families.
ODONATA (Dragonflies and Damselflies)
Although we have a Society Recorder for Dragonflies and Damselflies, as well as Steve Cham’s superb book Dragonflies of Bedfordshire, I would nonetheless recommend two websites, both of which include some excellent images, as being well worth a look for anyone interested in these insects. These are the websites of the British Dragonfly Society https://british-dragonflies.org.uk// and www.ghmahoney.org.uk/dragonfly/
ORTHOPTERA (Grasshoppers and Crickets), (DERMAPTERA (Earwigs) and DICTYOPTERA (Cockroaches)
Although we have a County Recorder for Grasshoppers and Crickets and this group has been well studied in the County the website of the National Recording Scheme for Orthopteroids is at www.orthoptera.org.uk/. This also covers Dictyoptera (Cockroaches etc.), Dermaptera (Earwigs) and Phasmida (Stick Insects). The website includes good illustrations of many species as well as written accounts, national distribution maps and videos complete with sound.
PSOCOPTERA (Barkflies and Book-lice)
The National Barkfly Recording Scheme website at https://www.brc.ac.uk/schemes/barkfly/homepage.htm has much useful information, a key to adults of species, UK distribution maps and many excellent illustrations. The Scheme is co-ordinated by Keith Alexander. As the web-site states ”The lack of recording ensures that even casual recorders of the group have a good chance of making significant finds. Wherever you live you are likely to turn up species previously unrecorded in the area and may even find species new to Britain. Over the last fifteen years many new species have been found in the UK (including in Bedfordshire) and there is every chance that further species are waiting to be discovered”.
HEMIPTERA (True Bugs)
For Heteroptera Bernard Nau is our longest serving recorder and this sub-order has therefore been very well studied in the County. Nonetheless I was still able to add a new species to the County List less than 300 metres from my home!
The website at www.britishbugs.org.uk/ is really superb and I thoroughly recommend it to all those interested in insects. I have spent many happy hours perusing it. It includes much useful information and vast numbers of excellent images of both Heteroptera and Homopteran species including Auchenorrhyncha (Froghoppers, Treehoppers, Planthoppers and Leafhoppers) as well as Psylloidea (Jumping Plant lice). The website is run by Joe Botting and Tristan Bantock, both of whom I have found exceedingly helpful and I have become very interested in this group, photographing a good number of species since June just in my local area. (This site also provides links to other good European sites on Hemiptera). An excellent new website for the National Recording Scheme for froghoppers is at www.ledra.co.uk.
The Homoptera also include Scale Insects, for which Chris Malumphy has provided an excellent introduction on our own BNHS website (https://www.bnhs.co.uk/index.php). Chris indicates there that he would be delighted to receive any samples of scale insects and assist with their identification. His address is given in the article.
Some Hemiptera are gall-causers so this provides another useful means of recording them. The British Gall Society website is under-development but there are excellent books available on galls, most especially British Plant Galls by Margaret Redfern and Peter Shirley. This was published in 2002 by Field Studies Council but a new edition is in preparation.
For aphids we now have a superb website run by the National Recorders at influentialpoints.com/Gallery/Aphid_genera.htm. This site is continually being added to and really is a revelation to the world of aphids. There are thousands of illustrations, guides to aphids on specific hosts and links to Keys.
THYSANOPTERA (Thrips)
The excellent website keys.lucidcentral.org/keys/v3/british_thrips/ was launched in 2018 by national specialist Dom Collins.
The 1976 RES key is accessible on-line at https://www.royensoc.co.uk/sites/default/files/Vol01_Part11.pdf though this is somewhat out of date. Charles Baker and ARO are in contact with Dom Collins who is helping us with identifications.
SIPHONAPTERA (Fleas), ANOPLURA (Sucking Lice) MALLOPHAGA (Biting Lice) etc.
Nothing really available though we have good contact with the National Recorder for Fleas who does visit the County regularly.
NEUROPTERA, (Lacewings), MECOPTERA (Scorpionflies) & RAPHIDIOPTERA (Snake-flies)
There is little on-line though https://www.naturespot.org.uk/taxonomy/term/19491 is useful.
Fortunately, we have an excellent County Recorder.
LEPIDOPTERA (Butterflies and Moths)
Unquestionably the most popular of all insect groups and well studied in Bedfordshire where we are also fortunate in having two very hard-working County Recorders as well as more other individuals contributing records than for any other group except Birds. I think the following websites will be of interest if anyone has not yet discovered them.
There are many websites devoted to Butterflies in the UK. Perhaps the best is at www.ukbutterflies.co.uk/index.php
www.ukmoths.org.uk includes illustrations of over 2050 of the 2400+ total moth fauna of the UK often with several illustrations per species and including many micros for which illustrations are not otherwise readily available. The facility to move easily from a species to those closely related is invaluable.
Also good is https://britishlepidoptera.weebly.com
Another site, covering European species and which I have found very good in helping to identify species that I encounter when leading Naturetrek tours abroad is Moths and butterflies of Europe and North Africa at www.leps.it/
Many larval micro-moths are leaf miners and these and other leaf mining larvae (Diptera, Hymenoptera and Coleoptera) can often be identified from the characteristic mines they make. Using www.leafmines.co.uk/ you can either search by the insect species or by host plant. The Dutch website at Bladmineerders van Europa is also excellent and can be searched in either Dutch or English. Be aware though that some species included may not be British.
DIPTERA (Two-winged Flies)
Hoverflies have been studied in the County for many years and in John O’Sullivan we have yet another excellent recorder. Those interested in this family might be interested in the website www.microscopy-uk.org.uk which has a lot of useful background information on this family as well as many excellent images. The website of the national Hoverfly Recording Scheme is also full of information, and includes species distribution maps, photographs and a discussion forum www.hoverfly.org.uk/portal.php as well as a Facebook group at https://en-gb.facebook.com/groups/609272232450940/
There are over 7000 species of Diptera in the UK and apart from hoverflies these have received little attention in Bedfordshire though there are very many extremely attractive species and manageable families.
The website of the Dipterists Forum at www.dipterists.org.uk/ enables one to post images which experts will often be able to identify for you. Non-members can still make use of the site but membership (at just £6 per annum) gives very many benefits including access to the updated UK Checklist etc. I have found this group exceedingly kind and helpful and have had many offers to look at specimens where species cannot be identified from the photos. In addition I have been sent copies of draft keys etc. I really cannot recommend this site too highly. The website also provides links to national recording schemes for many families. (Note however some families, including the widespread Muscidae [House Flies and their allies] and Calliphoridae [Bluebottles, greenbottles and allies] do not currently have dedicated national recording schemes)
There are also some web-sites dealing with individual fly families, of which that at www.tachinidae.org.uk is I think particularly good whilst www.culicoides.net covers just the single genus of biting-midges Culicoides (Family: Ceratopogonidae) in superb detail.
Another really excellent and useful site is www.diptera.info/. This is an interactive site for Dipterists from all continents. From the Diptera Gallery here one can access vast numbers of images arranged by family!
Some flies are gall causers as larvae and so reference sources referred to under Hemiptera are useful to identify fly species, which are generally specific to host plants. Other flies are leaf miners as larvae so the web-site www.leafmines.co.uk/ is again useful. In addition, there is also a separate site dedicated specifically to fly mines at www.ukflymines.co.uk/.
(see also Bladmineerders van Europa as referred to above).
HYMENOPTERA (Bees, Wasps, Ants, Sawflies, Ichneumons etc.)
The website at www.bwars.com/ no longer provides the forum facility for image identification of bees, wasps and ants that it did formerly. It does though have useful checklists, image galleries and other resources. Note also that it does not cover all Hymenoptera.
A website at https://www.flickr.com/groups/350124@N24/ also has useful coverage of parasitic wasps.
Some of us do however have contact with specialists in Ichneumons etc. so if you need help with these please ask.
COLEOPTERA (Beetles)
This is the insect order which has seen the greatest proliferation of new websites in recent years. The best of these is https://www.ukbeetles.co.uk whilst https://sites.google.com/site/mikesinsectkeys/ provides excellent illustrated keys to most of the British beetle families.
The Watford Coleoptera Group at www.thewcg.org.uk has a good gallery while a German website at www.koleopterologie.de/gallery/ has over 18,000 excellent photos of European beetles and I can also recommend https://www.kerbtier.de as another with an excellent gallery.
ladybird-survey.org is a good ladybird site with most species illustrated by photographs.
Some individual families do have Recording Scheme Co-ordinators who may perhaps help. See www.brc.ac.uk/recording-schemes.
GENERAL
An invaluable database of insects and their food plants can be found at
www.brc.ac.uk/dbif/homepage.aspx.
It includes about 47,000 interactions for roughly 9,300 invertebrate taxa and 5,700 plant taxa.
I can also recommend www.eakringbirds.com – This covers the birds and invertebrates of Eakring and Sherwood Forest NR Nottinghamshire but has a fantastic gallery of beetles especially as well as for many other insects, as well as spiders, harvestmen etc.
Flickr also has specialist groups for a number of taxonomic groups and these are more reliable than the general ones. I am afraid I do not do social media but there is now a proliferation of Facebook sites including for Dipterists Forum, Hoverflies etc.
Many people use i-Spot https://www.ispotnature.org. For many invertebrate groups this is quite good though I have seen some dubious identifications on there so be careful! I tend not to use it. Some other general forums are not recommended.
OTHER INVERTEBRATE GROUPS
CENTIPEDES, MILLIPEDES & ISOPODS (Woodlice etc.)
The British Myriapod and Isopod Group (BMIG) website at http://www.bmig.org.uk is now excellent and continues to develop with checklists, increasing numbers of images and other resources. Scheme organisers are usually happy to check the identity of individual specimens but please do not send large collections of material without prior agreement. (Please ensure that specimens are sent in appropriate containers that will not be damaged or broken in the post.)
OTHER CRUSTACEA
www.boxvalley.co.uk/nature/cladocera/cindex.asp - The website of the Cladocera Interest Group. (Membership of the group is free and open to all) The website is still developing but some excellent information including UK distribution maps.
cfb.unh.edu/cfbkey/html/species.html - An image-based key to the Zooplankton of North America. Some useful images and descriptive entries. Hopefully their species concepts are the same as ours!
SPIDERS AND OTHER ARACHNIDS
britishspiders.org.uk/wiki2015/index.php?title=Main_Page is the website for the British Arachnological Society. This includes pages for all British spider species though not all are yet illustrated. There are also checklists for UK Harvestmen and Pseudoscorpions.
https://ednieuw.home.xs4all.nl/Spiders/spidhome.htm includes over 2300 images of 378 spiders in 176 genera commonly found in NW-Europe.
A useful website for Pseudoscorpions with distribution maps and images, can be found at www.chelifer.com/pseudos/pseudoscorpions.htm">
There is little available on ticks though http://bristoltickid.blogs.ilrt.org is useful. There is nothing of use on mites (except in relation to those species causing galls which are well covered in the literature on galls e.g. British Plant Galls by Redfern & Shirley 2nd edition (2011) Pub FSC).
In fact, I know of only two people in the UK currently working on free living terrestrial, freshwater and parasitic mite species.
MOLLUSCS
The Conchological Society is developing a new 'Online Encyclopedia of Molluscs' which aims to provide an overview of the variety of different forms and also give more information on individual species. As well as excellent images, it provides descriptions of the shell, habitat and ecology details, key features and distribution maps. Please note however that this is still under development. See www.conchsoc.org/.
ANNELIDS (Segmented worms)
The website for the Earthworm Society of Britain can be found at
https://www.earthwormsoc.org.uk.
There is a simple key to common species (though not wholly reliable!) at
https://www.opalexplorenature.org/?q=Earthwormguide.
There is little online in relation to leeches though www.bumblebee.org/invertebrates/ANNELIDAb1.htm gives a guide to eleven common species. The best published guide available is Freshwater Leeches of Britain and Ireland: Keys to the Hirudinea and a Review of their Ecology by J.M Elliott and Michael Dobson, Pb: FBA (2015). (Note the old 1979 key to this group by Elliott and Msnn is now much too out of date to be useful)
OTHER WORM GROUPS
There is a useful guide to terrestrial flatworms (formerly published in British Wildlife)
available as a PDF at
www.record-lrc.co.uk/Downloads/5-2005%20-%20jones%20-%20british%20land%20flatworms%5B16012014%5D.pdf
I can find nothing useful online for Freshwater Triclads.
The best published resource is Key to the Freshwater Triclads of Britain and Ireland, With Notes on Their Ecology by T.B. Reynoldson & J.O. Young Published FBA 2000. (Note the old 1967 key to this group is now much too out of date to be useful)
Acknowledgements
My thanks to Charles Baker, Keith Balmer and John O’Sullivan for helpful suggestions on this article.
Alan R. Outen Jan 2017 updated Jan 2019
Bex Cartwright has added the following very useful account of social media resources for identification etc. [This includes more than just invertebrates]
Recording Societies and Other Useful Groups on Facebook
Coleoptera
Beetles of Britain and Ireland
Ladybirds of UK
Longhorn Beetle Recording Scheme (Britain)
Diptera
UK Hoverflies
UK Hoverflies Larval Group
British Soldierflies and Allies
British Conopids
Hemiptera
UK Hemiptera
Hymenoptera
UK Bees, Wasps and Ants
BWARS
Bedfordshire Hymenoptera Group
British and Irish Sawflies (Symphyta)
Hymenopterists Forum
Lepidoptera
UK Micromoth Identification
Micromoth Field Tips
Moths UK Flying Tonight
Bedfordshire Moth Group
Garden Moth Scheme
Caterpillars UK
Odonata
UK Dragonflies and Damselflies
Orthoptera
UK Orthoptera – Grasshoppers, Crickets and Allied Insects
Arachids
British Arachnological Society
British Spider Identification Group
British Pseudoscorpions
Botany
British and Irish Grasses, Sedges and Rushes and ‘non-flowering’ plants
Botanical Keys and How to Use Them
Fungi
British and Irish Fungi
General
British Leafminers
Mammals
Mammal Society
Bedfordshire Bat Group
Recording Societies on Twitter
UK Soldier Beetles @UKCantharidae
UK Pollinator Monitoring Scheme @PoMScheme
Cranefly Recording Scheme @CRStipula
The British Lichen Society @BLSlichens
CleLyRS (Cleroidea and Lymexyloidea) @CleLyRS
Agromyzidae RS @AgromyzidaeRS
BBSBryology @BBSBryology
Soldierflies Recording Scheme @SoldierfliesRS
Longhorn Recording Scheme @NLonghornRS
Weevil Recording Scheme @WeevilRS
DUMP Dung Beetle UK Mapping project @Team_DUMP
Silphidae Recording Scheme @SilphidaeRS
The British Phycological Society @bps_algae
BMIG British Myriapod and Isopod Group @britishmigroup
Grasshoppers and related species recording scheme @GrasshopperSpot
BWARS Bees, Wasps and Ants Recording Scheme @bwars2000
NBMP National Bat Monitoring Programme @BCT_NBMP
National Plant Monitoring Scheme @theNPMS
Shieldbugs and allies recording scheme @BritishBugs
British Plant Galls @Britgalls
British Arachnological Society BAS @BritishSpiders
British Mycological Society @BritMycolSoc
UKBMS Live data UK Butterfly Monitoring Scheme @UKBMSLive
Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland BSBI @BSBIBotany
Dipterists Forum @DipteristsForum
BDS British Dragonfly Society @BDSDragonflies
UK Glow Worm Survey @ukglowworms
UK Ladybird Survey @UKLadybirds
Butterfly Conservation @savebutterflies
Mammal Society @Mammal_Society
BTO British Trust for Ornithology @_BTO