GUIDE TO THE DISTINCTIVE ANTS OF BRITAIN AND IRELAND – Gary Skinner
Field Studies Council, 2026

Fold-out guide, flow-charts, colour photos, full price £4

A complementary resource to Gary Skinner & Andrew Jarman’s Ants book is the Guide to the distinctive ants of Britain and Ireland also by Gary Skinner, is part of the Field Studies Council’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants).

This will be very useful in the field. It is just four double-sided water-resistant pages, with quite large colour photos of twelve of the most common British species of Ant. The other 40 to 50 British ant species are mostly uncommon or rare in Britain, so these twelve species may well be the only outdoor species you will find in the Milton Keynes area.

A three-page spread is provided as a guide through a series of yes/no answers leading you to a named colour photo of a single species, or to a small group of similar species. On the reverse side are two diagrams of basic body features taking you either to Formicinae or Myrmicine ants. Another diagram takes you to Step 1 to answer: ‘Is it an Ant?’ and Step 2 to: ‘Is it a worker?’. There is then a ‘top 30’ list of the Ants seen most frequently. Finally there is a list of sources of Further Information.

Mike LeRoy
Copyright © M G LeRoy (April 2026)