Orthoptera and Dermaptera – David W Williams (2024: Field Studies Council) – Book review by Mike LeRoy

ORTHOPTERA AND DERMAPTERA: The Grasshoppers, Groundhoppers, Crickets and Earwigs of Central and Northern Britain and Ireland – David W Williams
Field Studies Council – 2024 – 64 pages – AIDGAP Guide – paperback £12

One advantage of this identification guide is that it covers all 24 of the Grasshoppers, Ground-hoppers and Bush-crickets, and 4 Earwigs you are likely to see in the wild in Britain. It excludes the Mole-cricket and several imported species found largely indoors, and covers in an Appendix three species with very limited distribution in Britain and Ireland. It is therefore a manageable group to learn to identify.

The Mole-Cricket was always scarce, has declined substantially, and recent records of it are from only two sites in The New Forest. Indoor species such as the House-Cricket, and occasional vagrants such as the Egyptian Grasshopper and Migratory Locust are not included.

For the areas this book covers, it includes all widespread Orthoptera: Grasshoppers, Groundhoppers, Crickets; and all Dermaptera: Earwigs. This selection reduces the potential number of species you may see. It makes identification simpler, until climate change causes more species to head to Britain from northern Europe.

Following a brief overview of the Orthoptera and Dermaptera, there are 20 pairs of pages of Species Accounts of Orthoptera (Crickets, Groundhoppers and Grasshoppers) each pair of pages covering one species, with identification and other information on the left page and a series of colour photos of the species on the righthand page. Then four pairs of pages cover the four Species Accounts of the Dermaptera (Earwigs). The left pages provide: length, key identification features, habitat, song (a concise description), and distribution. There are no maps of distribution. The book concludes with the Appendix, a page of References and Further Reading and two for the Index, but no Glossary.

The colour photos cover: males and females, with a few of the early instar nymphs. Key features are arrowed on the photos. Some photos show significant details such as comparison of hind-knee features of Groundhoppers, or size comparison showing a 7-spot Ladybird alongside a tiny male Lesser Earwig.

Most photos are well-lit and clear, but some that show Orthoptera in their habitat unintentionally illustrate the effectiveness of their body-colour camouflage, as these are less distinct. This is where colour line drawings by a capable entomologist and proficient artist would have been useful, but costs of that painstaking artwork tend to make that work possible only for much higher print runs.

This Guide is focused on identification and provides clear and brief descriptions of features. It is an ideal size to use in the field.