Identifying beetles

Pyrochroa coccinea CC image by Sarefo

Just to get things straight before we start. There are about 4000 beetle species in the UK. But don't be frightened - a lot of those are very small or quite rare. The ones you find will probably be easier to identify. But it will take a bit of effort to do it properly.

I've recently bought a very nice book called 'A comprehensive guide to insects of Britain and Ireland' by Paul D. Brock.  It's full of clear photographs and there are many of beetles. I've found it really useful to flick through - you can start to get an idea of the range of shapes and sizes and colours. Of course it won't have everything you'll find. But it is a good start, and can give you encouragement (and perhaps a little overconfidence). You'll start to see which families your beetles might come from.

I would also thoroughly recommend checking out the photos and descriptions at the Watford Coleoptera Group website - head for the gallery. They don't have everything (well they might have everything around Watford) but even if they don't have your species, you might spot something like it that puts you back on track of the right family.  It's such a shame but this excellent website hasn't worked for some months.

A black oil beetle like one I saw in Wiltshire this year, with its kinked antennae. So big! CC Mark Coleman.

Some people will say you should start by using a key. But I would say (from experience) that as a beginner you could spend a lot of time struggling through a key and all its terminology, only to get to an answer that turns out to be spectacularly wrong, and this is very demoralising. I don't want you to be demoralised at such an early stage. I think if you spend time looking at Brock's book or the WCG pages, you will start to pick out the distinguishing features that are most important within your family.

I'm in no way suggesting you should just 'match the pictures' to your specimen - you need to read the descriptions too and compare features carefully. But when there are only a few British species in a family, you may find you can have a good degree of confidence. The Black oil beetle above is a case in point.

But then -

For the novice coleopterist to progress, he or she must first discover which family their beetle belongs in. We have two books with keys to the families, which I've found very useable:
D.M. Unwin's 'Key to the families of British beetles' (you can borrow one from OJ17, or a new copy is only £7.50)
and 'Collins Field Guide to Insects of Britain and Northern Europe' by Michael Chinery (we have many copies of this).
Neither of these seem to be foolproof (my beetle tutor was unplussed by Unwin) but they seem to work most of the time, so are worth spending time on.

Both books give a brief description of each family with a guide to the number of British species. You should feel pleased to get this far - you will learn important things about different beetles' body structures. You'll get to recognise some distinctive families - the Carabidae (ground beetles), the Scarabeidae (which includes chafers and dung beetles) and the Curculionidae (weevils), for example. And you'll get to know some specialist beetle anatomy terminology.

Please do come in and use the dissecting microscopes - you'll need to. You might be able to manage to a certain extent with a pinned beetle and a handlens when you're counting the sections of its tarsi (essentially the foot). But it's so much easier with a microscope and I can assure you you will LOVE it, because - well beetles are amazing, especially in 3D closeup. I will be delighted to help you with what I know to start you off.

Cheekily borrowed from Lindroth's Carabidae book to show you some beetle anatomy. But don't panic.

So next comes the tricky bit - that of distinguishing the species. Some are easier to distinguish than others - sometimes there are only a few species in a family and they're quite distinctive. But do not be alarmed by the idea that some will be impossible - some groups are inherently very difficult, even for experienced and dedicated beetle-fanciers, and the keys don't even exist sometimes. Mark Telfer is an 'entomological consultant' and has a superb website - even he says things like "the Aleocharinae – the coleopterist’s Everest, the biggest and most challenging subfamily of beetles. Like Everest, it’s not a challenge you can really take on all by yourself. I am pottering slowly towards base camp."

So be kind to yourself and start somewhere manageable. I offer the following suggestions as a result of my own forays into beetle identification. I think my (sometimes slightly hapazard) methods are giving me enough success to feel I'm progressing (in what is a massive subject that could take up a lifetime...).

I have bought some copies of Martin Luff's key to British ground beetles (the Carabidae), and this is an excellent place to start on getting some beetles down to their species.

I also highly recommend Mike's Insect Keys. The amount of time and effort that goes into these websites is surely amazing - and it's great that people share their knowledge so freely. He has keys to lots and lots of the families, some based on the old-school bible of British beetles, a book written by Norman Joy in the 1930s. Mike's updated keys include photographs and diagrams, and they seem really clear. If you think you know what your species is, and then run it through the key, and the key agrees with you: endorphins will be released and you will want to continue with entomology. Likewise, if you were doubtful before, but the eventual answer from the key seems believable - you will feel encouraged. This is good. It doesn't always happen, but I hope it will happen sometimes for you.

Weevils are very sweet. CC image of Furcipus rectirostris by Ryszard.

I also recommend scrolling down on the front page of Mark Telfer's site  to see what information and links he has about your family (the list on the left). The advantage of online resources over keys in books is that improvements and clarifications can be added immediately. (You can be sure that whatever Mark recommends is reliable and good, but you might not want or need to leap into buying expensive books at this early stage).

(Another place to go is the Royal Entomological Society's Handbooks, where many family keys can be downloaded for free. I've spent time using Lindroth's Carabidae key from there, and although it led to considerable frustration, it taught me much terminology that's useful to understand. But I don't want you to be frightened off. I started with these but it would have been a lot easier to start with the recommendations above. We can go through these keys together if you like. It can be really helpful to have someone else to talk to who knows what crossed epipleura are.)

A Dytiscus water beetle, beautifully streamlined. CC by Rob Mitchell.

If you're interested in water beetles, there's Laurie E Friday's 'Key to the Adults of British Water Beetles.' We've a couple of hardback copies, but it can also be downloaded for free from the FSC via this link.The book has since been revised and expanded - I've not seen these editions yet but if you're really keen we could get hold of them. My knowledge of water beetle identification is woefully inadequate. Just reading this post from the Dragonflywoman has been quite instructive.They do have a reputation for being difficult though. Just remember, you don't have to identify everything you find. You can put it aside for your retirement or something, when you've got really good.

For the latest things I've spotted, look through my other beetle-related posts.

Whatever resources you use, you'll want to check that you've got the most current species name by putting it into the Natural History Museum's species dictionary.

And remember, please do come and use the microscopes, and feel free to ask for help.

Read on for information about collecting beetles, methods of killing them (sorry), and how to pin and label them.

NWBeeson's drawing of an insect leg

Pinning and labelling beetle specimens

A very large scarab beetle from Ancient Egypt in the British Museum (CC image by Rachel H)

There's a lot of information on the internet (like this sage advice from Katy Potts), but it's a lot to take in and it may make more sense once you've had some practical experience? There's a few things to bear in mind though:

Relaxing (the beetles, not you):  if it's been more than a day or so since you collected them, the specimens will get brittle and there'll be more chance of legs and antennae dropping off. So you should put them in a sealed plastic box with some moistened paper (some people say vinegar) overnight (some people say longer) before you pin them.

Pins: You need special entomological pins (I've written a page about suppliers here). They come in different widths. The bigger then number, the bigger the diameter, and you match the size to the size of your specimen. Although you can get very thin pins, I've discovered that they're hopeless for when you need to add labels, they bend. So I'd recommend you only use sizes 0 to 3 or more (even 0 is a bit small). You can buy your own pins or I do have some you can have to start with. If the beetles are too small, there are ways round this (read on).

Different insects are traditionally pinned in different places. Beetles are traditionally pinned through the right hand side of the body, through the wing cover. I sit them on a piece of expanded plastic foam so I don't pin myself in the process.

If you've got a small insect where a pin would obliterate it, you have the option of pointing, carding or staging them. Mr Telfer is big on carding but I'm not instinctively keen - it means you can't see the features on the underside of the beetle unless you de-glue it from the card. An alternative is pointing (which I've had moderate success with). You can buy or make small pointy bits of card which you skewer with a pin, and then bend the tip to glue it to the side of your specimen - preferably without plastering the entire creature in glue. Finally there's staging, which uses a tiny double-pointed pin which holds the insect to a strip of foam, which is in turn pinned as usual. To elucidate, here's an excellent picture I have willfully borrowed from the Queensland Museum webpages. I hope they would approve in the spirit of entomological education.

Examples of carded, pointed and staged specimens.

So your beetle goes on the pin first (pinned through the right hand elytra), and then you'll need to scrutinise it under the microscope to identify it.  Also at this point, you'll probably want to get its legs Just So, but without making them fall off. This takes patience and practice.

But when you leave to make a cup of tea, you mustn't forget where you found the beetle originally. I pin it through a little piece of paper that makes a temporary reminder.

When you've managed to identify it, you need to write out your labels. You could do this on a computer of course, but I quite like to write them by hand. You can consult the what, where, when and who pages for general advice. I use thin card (from an artist's drawing pad) and a super fine 0.05 pen with indelible ink (you can buy these in the SU shop). The labels are about 2x1 cm.

  You need to write two labels (or at least, this is the way I was taught to do it by an entomologist, so this is the way I am suggesting to you). One has the location and collector information on it, and the other has the identification and identifer. I was taught to put the location as the upper label and the identification as the lower label. I have to admit that this makes it difficult to see the identification and does seem somewhat daft.  So if you chose to do it the other way (or indeed a different way entirely) that would be entirely up to you.

So then you would use the pinning block (below) to add your labels to the pin. Ideally so everything was at 90 degrees, not like the slightly amateurish version pictured.

 You'll see that the pins go in the right hand side of the labels,
 and the beetle faces forward.

This all sounds quite dry but in practise it's quite absorbing, I find. It's certainly something that will suit people who like fiddly work, but don't let that put you off - I've definitely improved since I started, and the pinning is a minor part of the process. (I enjoy the collecting and identifying more)




Pinning block: This is really just a piece of metal with holes drilled into it, but it's very useful for making sure that all your specimens and their labels are at a consistent height. We've bought several so you can borrow one if you like.

The way I've been taught is to use the first (left hand) hole to position the beetle itself, and the 3rd and 4th holes for the location and identity labels respectively.

Then you can find a box to put your specimens in. I've been using transparent plastic boxes with close fitting lids. I line the bottom with a layer of foam. You can then add your beetles in some kind of taxonomic order (those in the same family together). You can also add some naphthalene in a little twist of material, firmly attached in a corner. That stops fungi and (live) insects who might like to eat your specimens. I can give you a bit of that - just come and ask.

You can buy expensive boxes from entomological supply companies if you're feeling flush, or improvise with something else - it's up to you.

Please do come in and have a chat about all this if you like, it seems a bit complicated at first, but it's not so bad when you actually have a go.

Collecting beetles

First find your beetle. CC image by Jim Champion.

The Joint Committee for the Conservation of British Invertebrates has written a Code of Conduct for collecting insects and other invertebrates, which you should have a look at (it includes things about permission and avoiding damage to habitats). But invertebrates don't get a huge amount of official protection under UK law. A few beetles are named in Schedule 5 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 (there's a list here in table 2A- you'll be unlikely to come across any of these but at least you'll know what they are).

But now is the time to be imaginative and get searching. Your basic entomological technique is 'grubbing' - you've got to get stuck in and search about directly. Check under large stones and in soil, in amongst moss, within heaps of grass or leaves, down inside tussocks, under bark, inside rotting wood, at the base of trees, amongst fungi and dung and dead things... You can try river banks, woodland, grassland, saltmarshes, ponds... You can use a trowel, a sweep net, a stick and beating tray for vegetation... (There's more enthusiastic if antique advice here).

Another approach is to encourage the beetles to come to you - this only works with active species like the ground beetles though. Mr Telfer has lots of advice on using pitfall traps. If you're going to use propylene glycol in the bottom you really must make sure you protect it so passing animals don't poison themselves (propylene glycol is less harmful than ethylene glycol) - some kind of grid or lid is necessary.

The Santa Barbara Museum of Natural History has a page summarising some other methods you might want to experiment with. But you have to remember that you'll be collecting your specimens over a dreary British autumn and winter, and many trapping techniques will only work when it's sunny and summery and all sorts of species are out in force. Grubbing and pitfall traps will be a considerably better bet than malaise nets for you.

A dung-baited pitfall trap (nice). Note the mesh to protect mammals. Picture borrowed from the Amateur Entomologists' Society website (with hope that they won't mind too much).

It occurs to me that there aren't just terrestrial beetles - there are almost 300 species that live in or near water. A lot are tiny and difficult to identify. But they are there if you want to investigate them (and their swimming-related adaptations). Carlos Aguilar (Paraguayan coleopterist) has written a document that contains more than you could believe possible about catching aquatic beetles. You might be able to adapt some of his ideas. We might have some equipment you can use (and that would include life-jackets and lines if you're going near water).

Read on for methods of killing beetles (sorry), and how to pin and label them.

Other traces of mammals

A hazelnut split cleanly by a squirrel (CC image by Bob Embleton)

 You might like to read this page from BBC Wildlife Magazine to whet your appetite for 'wildlife feeding signs'. Unfortunately there are no illustrations.

Rob Strachan's 'Mammal Detective' book is said to be good for these, and is pretty cheap second-hand (I don't have a copy yet).

Nick Baker's 'RSPB Nature Tracker's Handbook' is along the same lines.

I'm sure you'll find other options too - that's at least an advantage of choosing mammals, because their wide appeal with the public makes publishers happy (books on moss aren't quite so lucrative, more's the pity).

Brian Ecott has some useful photos and information on his Hainault Forest site. But I've not found much on the internet that's comprehensive. So if you get really into this, there's a definite gap you could fill...

(Return to the main list of mammal methods) 

Dissection of owl pellets for mammal bones

CC Owl pellet photo by Kristine Paulus

On reflection Ithis method doesn't tell you exactly where a mammal has been for the 'where' on your label - rather, the place where an owl coughed up its remains. But as an activity I rather enjoy it... it's a bit like unwrapping a present and you don't know what you're going to get (ok, that's probably a bit weird).

This download from the RSPB website gives you some tips about where to look for pellets, and how to dissect them. It's also got a flow chart to help you identify the bones.

Alternatively we have copies of this FSC 'Guide to British Owls and Owl Pellets 'which you can borrow.

We've also copies of D W Yalden's 'The Analysis of Owl Pellets' (there's a copy in the library too) which has a more detailed key.

Mammal jaws, skulls and teeth are most easily identified. You might find other bones but they're usually harder to pin down to species. Pellets might also contain parts of birds, feathers, beetle elytra, caterpillar jaws, fish and frog bones!

If you want to come in and use one of our dissecting microscopes, you are most welcome.

(Return to the main list of mammal methods) 

Taxidermy and pelts of small mammals

Stoat and weasel pelts. CC image by Kurschner.

This might be an option you'd like to try. Obviously it's not for the squeamish, but it's probably slightly less gruesome than the skull-defleshing, brain-scrambling option of obtaining a skull.

I will admit, I have no experience of this technique. It's possible that one of my colleagues does (perhaps Dave B.). If you want to try it, some first-hand advice might be the best place to start.

Funnily enough, technical details of the process aren't that easy to come by these days (it's not something that's going to appeal to the producers of Springwatch, for example). But there's been a resurgence of interest in taxidermy recently. This tutorial on the Dark Artifacts blog seems really clear - it shows the skinning and stuffing of a rat. It makes it look rather do-able.

In the past, unpleasant chemicals like arsenic were used for preservation. Borax or salt has been used as an alternative (you do have to get rid of all the subcutaneous fat for it to be effective). The animal's body is removed from the skin through a longitudinal slit in the abdomen. The tail and legs are supported by wrapped lengths of wire. The body is padded with cotton wool, and then the slit in the abdomen is sewn shut, as is the mouth.

The pelts we used to have were quite flat, like the stoats and weasels above. The body was supported by a piece of cardboard, rather than being stuffed. The front legs are directed forward and the back legs backward.

I also found a very comprehensive booklet online called Collecting and Preparing Study Specimens of Vertebrates, by E. Raymond Hall.  Its style certainly reflects the fact it was written in America in 1962. But once you've got past that, you may find some useful information. Mr Hall rather confidently says on p.18 that "with experience, less than a minute should be required to skin a mouse."

(Return to the main list of mammal methods)

Preservation of whole mammal specimens

If you've got a whole, unsquashed dead creature (the sort you occasionally find mysteriously flaked out on a path), you might want to preserve it whole - rather than going through the rigmarole of divesting it of its skull. I'm talking about something small - a shrew or a mouse perhaps. We have an example of a pickled hedgehog in OJ17.

You would preserve your animal in ethanol, as taxonomic collections of fish would be made. I can provide you with some preservative (usually 70% ethanol, 10% glycerol) but you might want to find a suitable container. You wouldn't want the animal's insides to decay, so I can also offer you a syringe with which to inject the body with more preservative.

A pickled baby panda (CC image Momotarou2012)

Above is an example you probably won't have in your collection (did you know baby pandas have long tails and no markings?). It seems to be mounted on a piece of perspex to hold it straight, but you might not want to be quite so elaborate. As with fish specimens, you should really put the label in with the animal (more information in the link above).

Another technique you could try is freeze-drying. I've not got very much experience of this, but the freeze-dried shrew I made one year was apparently successful (perhaps that's a sentence that's never been written before). I'm led to understand that it's a popular method in America for people who want to preserve their deceased pets. And the advantage is that you can freeze the animal in a life-like pose. So if you want to try this, we can experiment.

(Return to the main list of mammal methods)