This high quality FSC Insects of the British Isles fold out guide is a fast reference to the main insect groups on land and water. The guide was written and illustrated by renowned natural history artist Richard Lewington

Avoiding technical jargon, this guide shows you precisely what to look out for. The insect orders include mayflies, dragonflies, stoneflies, alderflies, snakeflies, scorpionflies and true flies. Plus earwigs, cockroaches, grasshoppers, crickets, bees, wasps, ants, butterflies, moths and lacewings. Also included are antlions, silverfish, firebrats, bristletails, thrips, barklice and many others.

Insects are the most successful animals on earth. They live virtually everywhere, from the highest mountains to the hottest deserts. More than a million insect species have been described worldwide, and possibly more than five times that number are still waiting for discovery. We know there are around 24,000 insect species in Britain, with probably many more. We could not survive without insects, as they perform many essential roles. These include recycling organic matter, pollinating plants and in providing food for countless other animals.

Insects have evolved to live in many habitats. They live on and in water, inside houses, and below ground, and of course they are masters of flight. However, despite this diversity they conform to the same successful basic design, with a head, thorax and abdomen, and a tough external skeleton or exoskeleton, and external mouthparts. Most insects begin life as eggs laid singly or in batches, but some insects like aphids are born as young nymphs, often without the female having mated beforehand. As they feed and grow young insects moult their skins often 10 or more times, with each stage known as an instar.

Mainland Britain

Our UK mainland delivery charges are as follows: (All figures are exc. VAT)

We send all items by Royal Mail 24. Please allow 2 days for us to dispatch, although it could be longer at busier times. This is a tracked service but NOT signed for, if you require a signed for service please select next day delivery.

For next day delivery, please order by 12 noon, item must be in stock. All stock levels are shown on the web, if showing as out of stock or prepared to order and required urgently, please contact us as we may have stock! Next day orders are sent by Royal Mail Special Delivery by 1pm.

Drosophila are always dispatched on a Monday, please advise when ordering your preferred delivery week.

Our working hours are 9.30am - 4pm Monday - Thursday, 9am - 12pm Friday. Orders received outside these hours will be processed the next working day; orders are only dispatched Monday-Thursday (Monday-Wednesday for perishable items). Hours vary during school holidays but we are usually available via email.

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Northern Ireland

Sadly, due to the UK leaving the EU, we can no longer supply Northern Irish customers with any products the have codes starting with an 'L' or 'P'. This is due to the requirement for all live or preserved products to have an import licence specific to the customer purchasing and the product being purchased. As each licence takes 2 weeks to obtain, and involves a considerable amount of paperwork, we have made the difficult decision to stop offering these products to Northern Irish customers. We can still offer equipment, i.e. products with an 'E' code, as these simply require customs documentation.

We apologise for the inconvenience and if the legislation changes we will review our decision.

British Islands

Delivery charges to the Isle of Man, Channel Islands (including Jersey & Guernsey), Shetland, Orkney and all the other islands we've missed, are the same as to mainland Britain (see above). The main difference is that delivery is likely to take a little longer, and for this reason we cannot guarantee next day delivery.

In addition, we cannot ship any liquids, so any 'wet' specimen ordered will be sent vacuum packed rather than in a jar.

International Orders

We welcome international orders but please note only non-perishable and non-animal derivative items, i.e. only those with codes starting with an 'E', can be sent.

Buyer is responsible for all import duties and taxes. EU businesses need to supply an EORI number before we can ship.

EU Delivery: £22

Non-EU Delivery £28

If you wish to buy something very small/lightweight, or need urgent delivery, please contact us for a postage quote, otherwise standard charges apply.

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