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 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.