British Hoverflies [Paperback]

Alan Stubbs (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 19, 2008

When the original edition of British Hoverflies was published in 1983, it established a popular style of user-friendly identification keys that resulted in many more people taking an interest in these colourful and attractive insects. This second edition retains the layout and approach of the original but it also includes much additional information about the family as a whole, as well as extended and revised species accounts. Revised by Stuart Ball, Alan Stubbs, Ian McLean, Roger Morris, Steven Falk and Roger Hawkins, the new edition includes all 276 species known from Britain, compared with 256 in the first edition. The keys and text have been updated extensively to take account of our increased knowledge of hoverflies, and some species from continental Europe that might be expected to occur here are described in the keys and species accounts. The second edition comprises 469 pages, including the 12 widely-acclaimed, original colour plates by Steven Falk, as well as 17 new detailed black and white plates of Cheilosia genitalia (by Steven Falk) and Sphaerophoria genitalia (by Stuart Ball). The summaries of the distribution of species and their flight periods have been updated following the publication of the Provisional Atlas of British Hoverflies in 2000. A check list of all British species gives the current nomenclature for the family, while a bibliography of over 800 references facilitates access to much of the published literature on hoverflies. This new edition will appeal both to experienced dipterists and to those starting to study flies for the first time.

Product Details

• Paperback: 469 pages
• Publisher: British Entomological & Natural History Society; 2nd edition (August 19, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1899935053
• ISBN-13: 978-1899935055
• Product Dimensions: 9.6 x 7.1 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,925,074 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars These are the *nice* flies, May 5, 2009

By 

Ashtar Command "Seeker" (Stockholm, Sweden) - See all my reviews

This review is from: British Hoverflies: An Illustrated Identification Guide (Hardcover)

Hoverflies (a.k.a. flower flies) are relatively small, brightly colored flies that live on nectar, don't sting, don't carry any tropical diseases, and play an important role as pollinators of flowers. They also espouse a variety of rather strange behaviour, including long-distance migrations, egg-laying in heavily polluted waters, and territorial defense. And they look like bees, wasps or bumblebees!

So how come there doesn't seem to be any popularized books on hoverflies???

When I searched Amazon, the only very vaguely popularized books that came up where "British Hoverflies" by Stubbs and Falk (this book), and "Hoverflies" by Gilbert. Both books are unreasonably over-priced here at Amazon.com, so please check out Amazon.com.uk instead. "British Hoverflies" can also be purchased from there (I did).

Please note that I said "very vaguely popularized". You probably have to be a not-so-budding hoverfly nerd to really like these books. And if you are, you probably have them in your backpack already! Gilbert's book contain some interesting information on hoverfly habits, but it's very short, more a pamphlet than a book. "British Hoverflies" is much longer but it's a very specialized identification guide. It's also very dated. My edition is from 1983. It covers all 250 British species, and illustrates 190 of them. The species presentations are rather short, and contain the following: a description of the traits necessary for identification, information about habitat and range, and approximate time of the year when the species in question flies. There is also an extensive identification key. The colour plates are all at the back of the book.

I'm sure the local dipterist enthusiasts somewhere in Kent or Somerset actually use this book. However, it wasn't quite what I was looking for. I wanted something about hoverflies along the lines of "Bees of the World" or "The Magpies", two natural science books I review elsewhere. It's a pity that the only *nice* flies don't have a popularizer (yet).

Any takers?