Spiders

Paul Hillyard

Collins Gem, 1997.

ISBN 0-004-72275-2

Good field guide, although it covers spiders from all around the world. The 227 species shown (all photographs) are a very small portion of those you are likely to encounter, so don't be surprised if you find one not listed here.

Dick Jones

ISBN 0-600-35665-5

An excellent guide, with over 800 photos. It sometimes takes a little while to find your way to the right identification, but it is a pleasure to leaf through the pictures.

Some Common Spiders in Australia

Michael R Gray

Australian Museum

Hasn't got a date or ISBN

The photos are fabulous, but the text is more to do with first aid. Only 19 spiders shown, most very large and all common. Good for frightening grandma but virtually useless for identification.

Ramon Mascord

ISBN 0-730-10291-2

Excellent guide. 198 photographs cover the most common spiders of Oz, and identification notes are clear and non-technical. Recommended.

Ants

Gary J Skinner and Geoffrey W Allen

Richmond Publishing co, 1996

ISBN 0-855-46305-8

Considering there are only about 50 ant species in Britain, this takes a very long way round to giving identification details. Few pictures of the ants themselves, and even fewer in colour, but it does have a very useful flow diagram to identify species.

Ants of the British Isles

G J Skinner

Shire Natural History, 1987

ISBN 0-852-63896-5

Lots of photos, but no real key to identifying the species. Probably no longer available, anyway.

A Guide to Ants of South Australia

P J M Greenslade

Sth Australian Museum, 1979

ISBN 0-724-35730-4

A very technical guide with no photographs. However, it has to cover several thousand species, and it does it quite well. Don’t expect to get an answer in the field, though: this requires specimen collection and close examination at home.

The Ants of Southern Australia

Alan N Andersen

CSIRO, 1991

A simpler guide than the one above, but still no photographs. However, the identification key is clear and simple to follow

Insects

Gordon Riley and Michael Chinery

Collins Gem, 1986.

ISBN 0-004-58818-5

Once again a good guide from Collins Gem, but it covers too much ground. However, surprisingly, it has one or two spiders not in the Spider Gem!

The Redback Spider and Other Venomous Creatures

L E Koch

Western Australian Museum, 1980

ISBN 0-724-48019-9

Another one to scare grandmother with, although the lack of photos removes a lot of the scariness. The line drawings are virtually useless for identification. Not worth buying.

Insects in Colour

N D Riley

Blandford, 1963.

ISBN 0-713-70144-7

Virtually all the insects shown are British. Loads of colour pictures (not photos). A useful general guide.

Michael Chinery

ISBN 0-002-19137-7

 Excellent guide. Thousands of insects illustrated, with quick identification keys. The organisation of the book makes finding something very simple. If you buy only one guide, this should be it.

Lorus and Margery Milne

ISBN 0-394-50763-0

This is the way every guide should be done. Over 700 photos on glossy paper, and 1000 pages of text printed on bible paper. A pleasure to use. Pity I don't go to America much.

New Zealand Wildlife

Murdoch Riley

Viking Sevenseas, 1983

No ISBN

A short guide with only a few pages of insects, but it does give the NZ-specific species like the the Weta.

Insects of Australia

Edgar Riek

Jackaranda Pocket Guides, 1963.

No ISBN

Very old book, probably out of print. Very good for beetle and fly identification, but ant information very sparse. No spiders.

Insects of Australia

John Goode

Angus and Robertson, 1980.

ISBN 0-207-13427-8

Follows a very similar pattern to the book above, but only eight colour plates! The line drawings are good, but without colour the guide is inadequate.

Worms to Wasps

Mark S Harvey and Alan L Yen

Oxford University Press, 1989.

ISBN 0-195-53081-0

A waste of space, It only identifies insects by class and order, but not species. Yet almost every other page has a linedrawing on it (no colour). Illustrating hymenoptera (ants, wasps, bees) with a single picture labelled "wasp" is just silly. DON'T BUY!

The Study of Ants

S H Skaife

Longmans, 1961

No ISBN

Sadly out of print, this book gives detailed descriptions of several species of ant. It also has chapters on keeping ants and (most politically incorrect) information on ant wars and how to start them.

Ways of the Ant

John Crompton

Collins, 1954

No ISBN

Once again out of print (probably mercifully). It is an interesting read, although full of anthropomorphism, and the disturbing tendency to refer to lasius niger as "Negroes". A pity, because there is good science in here.

Ants

Anthony Wootton

Wayland Young Naturalist Books, 1975.

ISBN 0-850-78221-X

Excellent book for young Formicologists. Lots of pictures of ants fighting, and good information on building your own formicarium.

Bert Hölldobler and Edward O Wilson

ISBN 0-674-48526-2

Absolutely fascinating, a must-read. It has both observation and detailed description of the way ant society works. If you want to know how ants communicate, read this.

The Earth Dwellers

Erich Hoyt

Mainstream Publishing, 1998

ISBN 1-840-18173-7

A good read, but a bit of a soap opera. The lives of some ants in the La Selva reserve in Costa Rica are studied in detail.

The Natural History of the Garden

Michael Chinery

Collins, 1977

ISBN 0-002-19606-9

Doesn't concentrate on insects, it covers plants, birds and mammals, too. But the insect plates are particularly good - it has the best plate of slugs outside of a Klingon bistro.

Garden Creepy-Crawlies

Michael Chinery

Whittet Books, 1986

ISBN 0-905-48344-8

A book for young entomologists. No colour plates, but a fun approach to describing insects.

Christopher O'Toole

ISBN 0-563-36910-8

As with all BBC books, glossy and full of beautiful pictures and useful facts.

Spineless Wonders

Richard Conniff

Souvenir Press, 1996

ISBN 0-285-63422-4

A fun book which looks at the way insects impinge on the poor entomologist in the field. From the sound of things, the insects get the best of the deal!

An Introduction to Australian Insects

Philip W Hadlington and Judith A Johnston

New South Wales University Press, 1982

ISBN 0-868-40208-7

This is really just a field guide, but in a book which is too large to fit in a pocket. Good pictures, but too many in black-and-white.

How to Photograph Insects and Spiders

Larry West and Julie Ridl

Stackpole Books, 1994

ISBN 0-811-72453-0

Beautiful photographs and excellent photography advice. I still tend to be a point-and-click merchant, but I keep meaning to try more…

The Social Biology of Ants

K Dumpert

Pitman, 1981

ISBN 0-273-08479-8

A study of the eusocial structures used by various species of ants, including a good chapter on ant communication.

Social Evolution in Ants

Andrew F G Bourke and Nigel R Franks

Princeton University Press, 1995

ISBN 0-691-04426-0

A study of the evolution of eusociality in ants, especially with regard to haplodiploidy and reproductive kin conflict. If you want a good, scientific explanation of how ants came about, this is it.

The Behavioural Ecology of Ants

John H Sudd and Nigel R Franks

Blackie, 1987

ISBN 0-216-92246-1

This is a clearly laid out study of the mechanisms of ant society - their economics, task specialisation, ecology and exploitative techniques. There is also a good chapter reconciling eusociality with Dawkins' selfish gene theory.

BBC Wildlife

BBC Publications

I only take one wildlife magazine. This is it. Every issue contains something of interest to an entomologist, either as a discovery or as a feature. There is also excellent information for the insect spotter, related to the month of publication.