Orthoptera and Dermaptera: (The Grasshoppers, Groundhoppers, Crickets and Earwigs of Central and Northern Britain and Ireland)

Orthoptera and Dermaptera AIDGAP is a photo-based identification guide to these large and often conspicuous insects.

This identification guide covers 28 native breeding species within the insect orders Orthoptera and Dermaptera. Geographic coverage extends to all of Wales, Scotland and Ireland, plus England north of a line from north Gloucestershire to Suffolk.

The species list is made up of ten bush-crickets, Scaly Cricket, all three British species of groundhopper, ten grasshoppers and all four British species of earwig.

The Orthoptera in particular is a rather heat-loving group of insects. Existing identification guides to British species can be confusing because a large minority of species cling near to the south coasts of England and Wales. As a result the majority of the human population uses guides that contain many species they will never encounter on their ‘local patch’. For the earwigs, the biggest problem lies in trying to find a guide which covers them in any depth at all. So this new AIDGAP identificaton guide will help naturalists visiting sites away from the south coast.

This guide is part of the FSC’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants). AIDGAP guides are accessible identification keys, suitable for non-specialists from age 16+. As with all guides in the series, it underwent extensive testing before publication, by beginners and specialists alike.