OPAL Invertebrate Identification Guide

Home , Centipede, Click beetle, Earwig, Froghopper, Invertebrate, Orthoptera

2047 OPAL guide to invertebrates_Invertebrates 888 x 210 copy 21/04/2015 12:53 Page 1

Molluscs and annelids Insects Insects Insects Insects Invertebrate No legs 6 legs 6 legs 6 legs 6 legs Snails, slugs and earthworms Beetles True bugs Bees, wasps and ants True flies Identification Guide This guide can be used for the OPAL Bugs Count Survey and OPAL Biodiversity Survey Common body shapes Common body shapes Common body shapes Common body shapes Snails coiled shell Pincer-shaped jaws (can be Wing cases usually meet in an X- or Y-shape (not true Long antennae Antennae often • Soft, slimy body for some true bugs, like aphids and scale insects) very short Invertebrates are animals without a backbone. They come in many shapes, sizes hard to see on smaller beetles) Two pairs of and colours. This chart covers what you are most likely to find during an OPAL • Hard, coiled shell see-through wings Large eyes Hard forewing cases (elytra) to survey: insects, arachnids, molluscs, myriapods and crustaceans. • Shell can vary from a (may almost fill protect the delicate hindwings Most have a narrow waist sphere, to a flattened bees the head) antennae disc or a pointed spire Bees are often hairy while You don’t need fancy equipment to survey bugs. Your eyes Wing cases meet in a straight One pair of wasps and anta are not are your most important tool, but these may help too: line making a T shape see-through wings Slugs wasps • Soft, slimy body • Do not have a hard, coiled shell Hoverfly very legs (although a few species have a long tiny disc of shell towards the young often hide in long thin snout broad legs end of their body) shoulders foam (‘cuckoo spit’) very narrow waist a magnifier pencil and paper a camera a jar small often has black and yellow marks Top tip: Not sure if you (to put bugs Earthworms Wasp sawflies on body, imitating a wasp in while you Weevil Other have a beetle or a true adults ants usually lack narrow Top tip: Hoverflies have

• Long, thin body divided into segments jump waist

identify them) Main features used in this guide beetle bug? Check how the wing some ants fat furry body much shorter antennae ‹ (which look like a series of rings or stripes) cases meet. Beetles have when saddle Top tip: Unlike true bugs, have wings body often than wasps and bees. a T-shape, but true bugs disturbed

• Thickened ‘saddle’ visible on adult worms the wing cases of beetles but most Ant Bumblebee metallic in Blowfly Cranefly usually have an X- or Y- Shieldbug do not Top tip: Don’t confuse‹ Start here – how many legs? Ladybird meet in a T-shape. colour shape. X-shape Froghopper Aphid wasps and hoverflies. Did you know? 2 or more spots • Over 7,000 species of bees, wasps, ants and sawflies • There are around 150 species of land snails and slugs in • Over 1,700 species of true bug have been found in the • There are approximately 7,000 species known from the no legs 6 legs 8 legs lots of legs Did you know? Did you know? Did you know? live in the UK. Did you know? the UK. UK. UK and more are discovered each year. • They belong to a group of insects called Hymenoptera. • They belong to a group of molluscs called Gastropoda • There are over 4,000 species of beetle in the UK. • They belong to a group of insects called Hemiptera, • True flies belong to a group of insects called Diptera which means ‘stomach-foot’! which means ‘half-winged’. • Ants evolved from wasp-like ancestors over 100 million • Beetles belong to a group of insects called Coleoptera. which means ‘two-winged’. • Earthworms belong to a group called Annelida – the • Most true bugs feed by puncturing their food and then years ago. • Beetles can be found in a wide variety of habitats on land • Although we often think of them as pests, true flies are segmented worms. There are 27 species in the UK. sucking up juices using their tube-like mouthparts. • Bees and wasps are incredibly important pollinators, carrying important, whether as predators, pollinators of plants, or Apart from a few hoverflies Reaching an incredible and in freshwater. which can crunch up • Slugs, snails and earthworms all need to keep their skin • Many species feed on plants and some can be pollen from one plant to the next as they feed on nectar. as food for other animals (like bats and birds). Others 16cm long, the Leopard • Many beetles help to pollinate plants, reduce pests and pollen, all true flies must damp so that they can breathe. They are particularly Slug (scientific name The Stag Beetle (scientific important pests (e.g. aphids). The young of froghoppers • Some (but not all) bees and wasps can sting if they feel Ants are one of the most help break down dead plants and animals. eat food in liquid form – recycle nutrients. name Lucanus cervus) is protect themselves from abundant organisms on active at night and when the ground is wet. Limax maximus) is one of • Aphids feed on plant sap, which is full of sugars. They threatened, while Wood Ants defend themselves by • There are lots of insects that have the word ‘fly’ in their whether that is nectar, the UK’s largest slugs. the biggest beetle in the predators and becoming earth. Colonies can exceed dung, blood, or something Myriapods • All three groups are a vital food source for many other • Many beetles eat living plants or fungi, others are active secrete some of this as honeydew. Ants often feed on biting and spraying formic acid. names that aren’t true flies, e.g. dragonfly, butterfly, UK, growing to an amazing too dry by surrounding 1 million individuals. This else! Mouthparts vary in Molluscs and animals, including birds, mammals and amphibians. It eats fungi, rotting plants predators of invertebrates, while some eat dead plants 7cm long! Their larvae this honeydew and in return protect the aphids from themselves in patches of • A diverse group of wasps called ‘parasitoids’ reproduce picture shows Wood Ants greenfly and mayfly. shape from the long, Photograph: Martin Hall (bluebottle mouthparts) and annelids Insects Arachnids crustaceans and other slugs. When and animals – even dung! (young) live in rotting wood predators. foam bubbles – often called by laying their eggs inside living invertebrates. (scientific name Formica sucking tubes of mating, a pair of Leopard for up to seven years, but ‘cuckoo spit’. They create rufa) massing outside their mosquitoes and bee flies, Discover more about slugs and snails on the Slugs will often hang from the adult beetles only live these bubbles while nest to absorb heat from Now try to name your invertebrate using this guide Photographs: Roger Key (aphids), Alan Stewart (cuckoo spit) to the disc-shaped ‹ Conchological Society’s website www.conchsoc.org a thread of mucus (slime). Love beetles? Why not join the UK Ladybird for a few months. Discover more about true bugs at feeding on plant sap. Buzzing about bees? Visit the Bees, Wasps and the spring sunshine. Discover more about true flies at ‘hoovers’ of blowflies. For earthworms visit www.earthwormsoc.org.uk Survey? www.ladybird-survey.org www.britishbugs.org.uk Ants Recording Society website www.bwars.com www.dipteristsforum.org.uk 2047 OPAL guide to invertebrates_Invertebrates 888 x 210 copy 21/04/2015 12:53 Page 1

• Long, thin body divided into segments jump waist

Insects Insects Insects Arachnids Myriapods and crustaceans 6 legs 6 legs 6 legs 8 legs Lots of Butterflies and moths Crickets, grasshoppers and earwigs Lacewings Spiders and harvestmen legs Woodlice, centipedes and millipedes Can’t find a match? There are well over 30,000 different species of invertebrate in the UK, so this guide What is the difference between a butterfly and a moth? Nothing really! They are very Crickets and grasshoppers have long back legs that are strengthened for jumping. Lacewings have clear wings, which are held like a tent over the body when resting. Spiders and harvestmen have eight legs. Many spiders build webs to catch prey. Myriapods (centipedes and millipedes) are often found at ground level, but sometimes cannot possibly show them all. If you find an invertebrate you cannot identify, record closely related and there is no one feature that separates the two. The following tips Earwigs have a pair of pincer-shaped claspers called ‘cerci’ at the end of their Harvestmen feed on a range of plant and animal matter. climb onto plants. Crustaceans (such as woodlice) have 14 legs and an armoured body. it as ‘other’ and check our website for further help. will help you decide, but there are always a few species that break the rules! brown body. long antennae • body divided into many Spider bodies are clearly divided Woodlice To learn more about UK invertebrates, visit Butterflies • usually fly during the day • have ‘clubs’ (lumps) on into two parts: segments • 7 pairs of legs • oval www.opalexplorenature.org/bugscount. the end of their antennae • rest with wings closed vertically above Grasshoppers have shaped body (when viewed from above) short antennae, The front part is called the their body lacewing • some woodlice can roll into a ball usually grey Great resources for identifying bugs include the OPAL much shorter than long cephalothorax (and includes • usually fly at night but some fly during the day • have iSpot website www.ispotnature.org, and the Natural Moths their body brown the head) Centipedes • long, thin body divided one pair of legs pointed and often feathery antennae • rest with their wings folded body per segment History Museum’s identification forums Legs hard Insect larvae (young) into many segments • at least 15 flat over their body to see The back part is called the abdomen www.nhm.ac.uk/identification. Crickets have Earwig pairs of legs, but can have many more • 1 pair of legs on each body ‘clubs’ on antennae long antennae, Many insects go through a four stage life-cycle: egg - larva - pupa - adult. The larvae Harvestmen have no ‘clubs’ on usually longer and pupae can be difficult to identify, as they do not always look like the adult. segment • usually orange or yellow antennae large pincers at one small body part than their body end of body Look after yourself and the bugs you find What are insect larvae? Most insects reproduce by laying eggs. The young that which is round or oval Millipedes • long, thin body two pairs of legs per • Handle bugs gently. Only pick them up when necessary and always put them back hatch from these eggs are of two types: shaped (unlike divided into segments • usually segment where you found them. caterpillar spiders which have less than 50 pairs of legs • 2 pairs • There are 33 species of cricket and grasshopper in the 1 Larvae look very different from the adults. They feed and grow, then their skin long Did you know? two body parts) thin of legs on each body segment • If you put a bug in a jar to look at it, don’t keep it for too long, or leave it in the sun. caterpillars develop UK and seven species of earwig. hardens and they turn into a pupa. Inside the pupa, they undergo a complete legs butterfly into adult butterflies change, before hatching as adults. • pill millipedes can roll into a ball dark brown or black • Always act in a safe and careful manner and tell someone where you are going. and moths moth • Crickets and grasshoppers belong to a group called • The UK has 27 species of harvestmen and 650 species • See the Field Notebook for further advice. Orthoptera, meaning ‘straight-winged’. It refers to the 2 Nymphs look quite like small versions of the adult. To grow, they moult their Did you know? way they hold their wings in a line along their back. of spider. • There are 39 species of woodlouse, 57 species of • There are over 2,500 species of moth in the UK but Did you know? hard skin several times, each time getting bigger and looking more like the adult. Did you know? fewer than 60 species of butterfly! • Earwigs belong to a closely related group called • All UK spiders are predators of invertebrates, especially centipede and 60 species of millipede in the UK. The Mole Cricket insects. They immobilise them with venom injected Learn more about insects – join the Amateur Entomologists’ • They both belong to a group of insects called Lepidoptera. Dermaptera. Butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars) • Woodlice, centipedes and millipedes are not closely (scientific name Gryllotalpa • Grasshoppers only eat plants, while crickets and earwigs through their jaws (‘fangs’). related. Centipedes belong to a group called Chilopoda, Society www.amentsoc.org. • Adult moths and butterflies feed by sucking liquids such gryllotalpa) is one of the • Not all spiders use silken webs to catch their prey. Some millipedes to the Diplopoda, and woodlice are as nectar through a straw-like tube called a proboscis. eat other invertebrates as well as plants. UK’s weirdest, rarest and most spectacular actively hunt, and others are ambush predators that sit Thin, wispy cobwebs in crustaceans in a group called Isopoda. For more help with identification visit . • Butterflies and moths are important pollinators, as well • Crickets sing (‘chirp’) by rubbing their back legs against butterfly caterpillar moth caterpillars ispotnature.org invertebrates. Like moles, in likely places and wait for prey to pass by. your house, garage or shed Despite their gentle their wings, or drumming them on a surface. Grasshoppers • All have a large number of legs, but not thousands! as being a vital food source for other animals. In Britain, they use their shovel-like may well belong to the Eating a woodlouse was fluttering flight, some chirp by rubbing their wings together. • Harvestmen are at their most abundant and visible • They live on damp ground surfaces, among fallen leaves Written by Martin Harvey, Gill Stevens, John Tweddle, Lucy Carter and Simon Norman. Blue Tit chicks eat an estimated 35 billion moth front legs to dig tunnels Beetle larvae True fly larvae Daddy Long-legs Spider once thought to cure butterflies and moths like during the late summer and early autumn – the traditional (scientific name Pholcus and decaying logs, and under objects like plant pots. stomach ache (but don’t caterpillars every year. • Earwigs don’t live in ears! through the soil. Mole Colour artwork © Chris Shields 2010. Photographs © Harry Taylor, Roger Key, Alan Stewart, this Red Admiral (scientific and pupae crop ‘harvest time’. phalangioides). Originally a try this at home). Crickets live almost • Woodlice and millipedes mainly eat dead or damaged plants. Martin Hall, Robert Thomson, Matt Berry, David Green. • Moths are often disliked because it is thought they eat name Vanessa atalanta) tropical species, it has entirely underground, click beetle larva • Harvestmen do not produce silk or venom, but can migrate all the way from ladybird larva spread around the world. Woodlice have been given clothes and other woollen fabrics. In fact, only two of the eating the roots of plants • Centipedes eat other invertebrates, which they immobilise southern Europe or North produce a pungent smell to put off predators. In the UK it prefers to live many different nicknames 2,500 species of moths in the UK are likely to eat clothes. as well as invertebrates using venom injected from a pair of poison claws near Africa to the UK. They indoors and in including slaters, that live in soil. their head. cheeselogs, chiggypigs, arrive here in spring, breed David Green Photographs: Robert Thompson, Matt Berry, bluebottle fly bluebottle fly outbuildings. It eats a wide stag beetle larva ground beetle larva over the summer and most larva (maggot) pupa range of invertebrates, pry lludw and Discover more about these insects on the Butterfly leave again in autumn. Want to discover more about grasshoppers, crickets Discover more at the British Arachnological including other spiders! Discover more at the British Myriapod and Isopod gammerzows! Conservation website www.butterfly-conservation.org and their relatives? Visit www.orthoptera.org.uk Society’s website www.britishspiders.org.uk Group's website www.bmig.org.uk 2047 OPAL guide to invertebrates_Invertebrates 888 x 210 copy 21/04/2015 12:54 Page 2

Insects Insects Insects Arachnids Myriapods and crustaceans 6 legs 6 legs 6 legs 8 legs Lots of Butterflies and moths Crickets, grasshoppers and earwigs Lacewings Spiders and harvestmen legs Woodlice, centipedes and millipedes Can’t find a match? There are well over 30,000 different species of invertebrate in the UK, so this guide What is the difference between a butterfly and a moth? Nothing really! They are very Crickets and grasshoppers have long back legs that are strengthened for jumping. Lacewings have clear wings, which are held like a tent over the body when resting. Spiders and harvestmen have eight legs. Many spiders build webs to catch prey. Myriapods (centipedes and millipedes) are often found at ground level, but sometimes cannot possibly show them all. If you find an invertebrate you cannot identify, record closely related and there is no one feature that separates the two. The following tips Earwigs have a pair of pincer-shaped claspers called ‘cerci’ at the end of their Harvestmen feed on a range of plant and animal matter. climb onto plants. Crustaceans (such as woodlice) have 14 legs and an armoured body. it as ‘other’ and check our website for further help. will help you decide, but there are always a few species that break the rules! brown body. long antennae • body divided into many Spider bodies are clearly divided Woodlice To learn more about UK invertebrates, visit Butterflies • usually fly during the day • have ‘clubs’ (lumps) on into two parts: segments • 7 pairs of legs • oval www.opalexplorenature.org/bugscount. the end of their antennae • rest with wings closed vertically above Grasshoppers have shaped body (when viewed from above) short antennae, The front part is called the their body lacewing • some woodlice can roll into a ball usually grey Great resources for identifying bugs include the OPAL much shorter than long cephalothorax (and includes • usually fly at night but some fly during the day • have iSpot website www.ispotnature.org, and the Natural Moths their body brown the head) Centipedes • long, thin body divided one pair of legs pointed and often feathery antennae • rest with their wings folded body per segment History Museum’s identification forums Legs hard Insect larvae (young) into many segments • at least 15 flat over their body to see The back part is called the abdomen www.nhm.ac.uk/identification. Crickets have Earwig pairs of legs, but can have many more • 1 pair of legs on each body ‘clubs’ on antennae long antennae, Many insects go through a four stage life-cycle: egg - larva - pupa - adult. The larvae Harvestmen have no ‘clubs’ on usually longer and pupae can be difficult to identify, as they do not always look like the adult. segment • usually orange or yellow antennae large pincers at one small body part than their body end of body Look after yourself and the bugs you find What are insect larvae? Most insects reproduce by laying eggs. The young that which is round or oval Millipedes • long, thin body two pairs of legs per • Handle bugs gently. Only pick them up when necessary and always put them back hatch from these eggs are of two types: shaped (unlike divided into segments • usually segment where you found them. caterpillar spiders which have less than 50 pairs of legs • 2 pairs • There are 33 species of cricket and grasshopper in the 1 Larvae look very different from the adults. They feed and grow, then their skin long Did you know? two body parts) thin of legs on each body segment • If you put a bug in a jar to look at it, don’t keep it for too long, or leave it in the sun. caterpillars develop UK and seven species of earwig. hardens and they turn into a pupa. Inside the pupa, they undergo a complete legs butterfly into adult butterflies change, before hatching as adults. • pill millipedes can roll into a ball dark brown or black • Always act in a safe and careful manner and tell someone where you are going. and moths moth • Crickets and grasshoppers belong to a group called • The UK has 27 species of harvestmen and 650 species • See the Field Notebook for further advice. Orthoptera, meaning ‘straight-winged’. It refers to the 2 Nymphs look quite like small versions of the adult. To grow, they moult their Did you know? way they hold their wings in a line along their back. of spider. • There are 39 species of woodlouse, 57 species of • There are over 2,500 species of moth in the UK but Did you know? hard skin several times, each time getting bigger and looking more like the adult. Did you know? fewer than 60 species of butterfly! • Earwigs belong to a closely related group called • All UK spiders are predators of invertebrates, especially centipede and 60 species of millipede in the UK. The Mole Cricket insects. They immobilise them with venom injected Learn more about insects – join the Amateur Entomologists’ • They both belong to a group of insects called Lepidoptera. Dermaptera. Butterfly and moth larvae (caterpillars) • Woodlice, centipedes and millipedes are not closely (scientific name Gryllotalpa • Grasshoppers only eat plants, while crickets and earwigs through their jaws (‘fangs’). related. Centipedes belong to a group called Chilopoda, Society www.amentsoc.org. • Adult moths and butterflies feed by sucking liquids such gryllotalpa) is one of the • Not all spiders use silken webs to catch their prey. Some millipedes to the Diplopoda, and woodlice are as nectar through a straw-like tube called a proboscis. eat other invertebrates as well as plants. UK’s weirdest, rarest and most spectacular actively hunt, and others are ambush predators that sit Thin, wispy cobwebs in crustaceans in a group called Isopoda. For more help with identification visit . • Butterflies and moths are important pollinators, as well • Crickets sing (‘chirp’) by rubbing their back legs against butterfly caterpillar moth caterpillars ispotnature.org invertebrates. Like moles, in likely places and wait for prey to pass by. your house, garage or shed Despite their gentle their wings, or drumming them on a surface. Grasshoppers • All have a large number of legs, but not thousands! as being a vital food source for other animals. In Britain, they use their shovel-like may well belong to the Eating a woodlouse was fluttering flight, some chirp by rubbing their wings together. • Harvestmen are at their most abundant and visible • They live on damp ground surfaces, among fallen leaves Written by John Tweddle, Lucy Carter, Martin Batson, Martin Harvey and Gill Stevens. Blue Tit chicks eat an estimated 35 billion moth front legs to dig tunnels Beetle larvae True fly larvae Daddy Long-legs Spider once thought to cure butterflies and moths like during the late summer and early autumn – the traditional (scientific name Pholcus and decaying logs, and under objects like plant pots. stomach ache (but don’t caterpillars every year. • Earwigs don’t live in ears! through the soil. Mole Colour artwork © Chris Shields 2010. Photographs © Harry Taylor, Roger Key, Alan Stewart, this Red Admiral (scientific and pupae crop ‘harvest time’. phalangioides). Originally a try this at home). Crickets live almost • Woodlice and millipedes mainly eat dead or damaged plants. Martin Hall, Robert Thomson, Matt Berry, David Green. • Moths are often disliked because it is thought they eat name Vanessa atalanta) tropical species, it has entirely underground, click beetle larva • Harvestmen do not produce silk or venom, but can migrate all the way from ladybird larva spread around the world. Woodlice have been given clothes and other woollen fabrics. In fact, only two of the eating the roots of plants • Centipedes eat other invertebrates, which they immobilise southern Europe or North produce a pungent smell to put off predators. In the UK it prefers to live many different nicknames 2,500 species of moths in the UK are likely to eat clothes. as well as invertebrates using venom injected from a pair of poison claws near Africa to the UK. They indoors and in including slaters, that live in soil. their head. cheeselogs, chiggypigs, arrive here in spring, breed David Green Photographs: Robert Thompson, Matt Berry, bluebottle fly bluebottle fly outbuildings. It eats a wide stag beetle larva ground beetle larva over the summer and most larva (maggot) pupa range of invertebrates, pry lludw and Discover more about these insects on the Butterfly leave again in autumn. Want to discover more about grasshoppers, crickets Discover more at the British Arachnological including other spiders! Discover more at the British Myriapod and Isopod gammerzows! Conservation website www.butterfly-conservation.org and their relatives? Visit www.orthoptera.org.uk Society’s website www.britishspiders.org.uk Group's website www.bmig.org.uk