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What Are The Best Books About Australian Insects?

Basics

Great for beginners

Backyard Insects

From aphids to flies, ladybirds to wasps, insects of all shapes and sizes share our homes and gardens. Now in an updated edition, the bestselling Backyard Insects explores the secrets and habits of more than one hundred little critters that are common to backyard Australia. Crawling with full-colour, larger-than-life photographs for easy identification, Backyard Insects is an indispensable guide for nature lovers, gardeners and kids of all ages.

Buy from Booktopia

Insects of South-Eastern Australia

A walk in the bush reveals insects visiting flowers, patrolling the air, burrowing under bark and even biting your skin. Every insect has characteristic feeding preferences and behaviours. Insects of South-Eastern Australia is a unique field guide that uses host plants and behavioural attributes as the starting point for identifying insects. Richly illustrated with colour photographs, the different species of insects found in Australia’s temperate south-east, including plant feeders, predators, parasites and decomposers, are presented.

The guide is complemented by an introduction to the insects of the region, including their environment, classification, life history, feeding strategies and behaviour. Fascinating boxes on camouflage, mimicry and many other topics are also included throughout. Whether you are a field naturalist, entomologist or just want to know what’s in your backyard, Insects of South-Eastern Australia will help you to identify the insects most likely to be encountered, as well as understand the basics of their ecology and behaviour.

Buy from Booktopia

A Field Guide to Insects in Australia

Whether you’re an amateur insect enthusiast, a student or an entomologist, this completely revised edition of A Field Guide to Insects in Australia will help you identify insects from all the major groups.

With more photographs, species and up-to-date information, A Field Guide to Insects in Australia will enable you to differentiate between a dragonfly and a damselfly or a cricket and a grasshopper. You’ll find cockroaches, termites, praying mantis, beetles, cicadas, moths, butterflies, ants and bees. More than 300 colour photographs show the insects in their natural habitat, while many line drawings clearly illustrate subtle differences where identification is tricky.

Buy from Booktopia

Miniature Lives

Miniature Lives provides a range of simple strategies that people can use to identify and learn more about the insects in their homes and gardens. Featuring a step-by-step, illustrated identification key and detailed illustrations and colour photographs, the book guides the reader through the basics of entomology (the study of insects). Simple explanations, amusing analogies and quirky facts describe where insects live, how they grow and protect themselves, the clues they leave behind and their status as friend or foe in a way that is both interesting and easy to understand.

Gardeners, nature lovers, students, teachers, and parents and grandparents of bug-crazed kids will love this comprehensive guide to the marvellous diversity of insects that surrounds us and the miniature lives they lead.

Buy from Nokomis Publications

Garden Pests, Diseases and Good Bugs: The Ultimate Illustrated Guide for Australian Gardeners

The most comprehensive illustrated book on pests and diseases – and beneficial insects – for Australian gardeners. This is the book that Australian gardeners have been waiting for! Packed with more than 750 stunning and detailed photographs, and a wealth of easy-to-follow, comprehensive and reliable advice, Garden Pests, Diseases and Good Bugs is the ultimate illustrated guide for anyone who wants to encourage a healthy, thriving garden.

Buy From Booktopia

Pocket Guide: Backyard Insects of Brisbane

A comprehensive pocket-sized guide to the insects commonly found in Brisbane backyards.

Buy from Queensland Museum

Beetles

A Guide to the Beetles of Australia

A Guide to the Beetles of Australia provides a comprehensive introduction to the Coleoptera – a huge and diverse group of insects. Beetles make up 40 per cent of all insects known to science. The number of described beetle species in the world – around 350 000 – is more than six times the number of all vertebrate species.

Buy from Nokomis

A Guide to Stag Beetles of Australia

A comprehensive account of the 95 lucanid species found in Australia. This book reveals their diversity and beauty, looks in detail at their morphology, habitats and ecology, and explains how to collect, keep and preserve them. Natural history enthusiasts and professional and amateur coleopterists alike will benefit from the use of this guide.

Buy from Booktopia

A Guide to Australian Tiger Beetles.

An excellent photographic guide to Australia’s carnivorous tiger beetles. Written by an expert in the field, the text is informative and accessible for professionals and naturalists alike. The close-up photographs allow for detailed examination and easy identification of species.

This book will have to be tracked down second hand

Introduced Dung Beetles In Australia

This field guide to introduced dung beetles covers all species found in Australia, including two newly introduced species. It will enable farmers, Landcare workers and the interested public to identify and learn about the basic biology of these beetles found in cattle dung.

Buy from Booktopia

Butterflies

The Complete Field Guide to Butterflies of Australia

Written by one of Australia’s leading lepidopterists, the book is stunningly illustrated with colour photographs, many of which are new, of each of the 435 currently recognised species. There is also a distribution map and flight chart for each species on the Australian mainland, together with information on similar species, variation, behaviour, habitat, status and larval food plants.

The introduction to the book covers adult structure, higher classification, distribution and habitats, as well as life cycle and behaviour. A new chapter on collecting and preserving butterflies is included. There is also an updated checklist of all species, a glossary, a bibliography and indexes of common and scientific names.

Buy from Booktopia

Reviews:

Wild Melbourne

Butterflies: Identification and life history

This guide aims to provide amateur naturalists, bushwalkers and interested others with a detailed account of butterflies found in Victoria and beyond. Information on butterfly behaviour, biology and habitat are all covered in this fascinating book. Although based on butterflies in Victoria, most species can be found all along the east coast of Australia. A handy checklist in the back of the book provides an instant summary of which species can be found in each state. Species descriptions are accompanied by stunning colour photographs of all the life stages of the butterfly, as well as their food plants or habitat.

Buy from Booktopia

Butterflies of Tasmania

Covers biology, life cycles, behaviour, food-plants, distribution, conservation, and classification. All species that occur in Tasmania are discussed, many of which also occur on the Australian mainland.

Buy from Nokomis Publications

Field Guide to the Butterflies of the ACT

A beautiful book with detailed notes and photographs of the wide range of butterflies found across the Australian Capital Territory.

Buy from Botanical Bookshop

Moths

Moths of Victoria

  • Moths of Victoria: part one, Silk moths and allies Bombycoidea.
  • Moths of Victoria: part two, Tiger moths and allies Noctuoidea (A).
  • Moths of Victoria: part three, Waves and Carpets and allies Geometroidea (C).
  • Moths of Victoria: part four, Emeralds and allies, Geometridae (B).
  • Moths of Victoria: part five, Satin moths and allies, Geometroidea (A).
  • Moths of Victoria: part six, Ghost moths Hepialidae and allies.
  • Moths of Victoria: part seven, Bark moths and allies, Geometridae (D).
  • Moths of Victoria: part eight, Night moths and allies Noctuoidea (B)

You can purchase these guides from Entomological Society of Victoria

Bees

A Guide to Native Bees of Australia

A Guide to Native Bees of Australia provides a detailed introduction to the estimated 2000 species of Australian bees. Illustrated with stunning photographs, it describes the form and function of bees, their life-cycle stages, nest architecture, sociality and relationships with plants.

It also contains systematic accounts of the five families and 58 genera of Australian bees. Photomicrographs of morphological characters and identification keys allow identification of bees to genus level. Natural history enthusiasts, professional and amateur entomologists and beekeepers will find this an essential guide.

Buy from Booktopia

The Australian Native Bee Book

Keeping native stingless bees is a hot topic in Australia for commercial, environmental and recreational reasons. This book allows the reader to do something about the decline of pollinators by conserving native bees.

In this book you’ll find the complete guide to native stingless bees, written by an ex-CSIRO research scientist who has spent his lifetime intimately engaged with these unique creatures. Whether you keep a hive or two in your suburban garden, or want to use multiple hives on a commercial farm, this friendly guide has you covered.

The Australian Native Bee Book describes native bees generally and provides a complete guide to keeping Australian native stingless bees. It is richly illustrated with over 500 photos, drawings and charts to increase accessibility and aid learning

Buy From Nokomis Publications

Reviews:

  • The Australian Beekeeper

Bees of Australia: A Photographic Guide

Bees of Australia introduces some of our incredible native bees, many of which, if you look closely, can be found in your own garden. Open this book wherever you like or read it from cover to cover. The combination of photography and contributions from some of Australia’s leading bee researchers allows anyone to become enthralled by our native bees. Don’t be surprised if you find yourself looking closer at every flower that you pass in search of our wonderful native bees.

Buy from Booktopia

Australian Native Bees

Combining the substantial expertise of many of Australia’s leading native bee researchers, this book is a guide to observing and keeping Australia’s broad range of native bee species. This publication was produced by Education Delivery, Tocal College, NSW Department of Primary Industries, as a collaborative effort with native bee specialists from across Australia.

Buy from Nokomis Publications

Dragonflies

The Complete Field Guide to Dragonflies of Australia

The book includes identification keys not only for adults but also for their larvae, commonly known as ‘mud eyes’ and often used as bait for freshwater fish. With stunning full-colour images and distribution maps, the book covers all 30 families, 110 genera and 324 species found in Australia.

Dragonflies are valuable indicators of environmental well-being. A detailed knowledge of the dragonfly fauna and its changes is therefore an important basis for decisions about environmental protection and management. Their extraordinary diversity will interest entomologists and amateur naturalists alike.

Buy from CSIRO

Identification Guide to the Australian Odonata

Identification Guide to the Australian Odonata (dragonflies) includes 325 described species in 110 recognised genera. This publication provides keys to the identification of the adults of all Australian species and to the larvae as far as known and diagnosable. In order to facilitate identifications, and to increase confidence, particularly in the identification of some larvae, detailed distribution maps of all species are included. Finally, profiles are given for species of serious conservation concern.

This is a free PDF. Clicking the link will start the file download.

Ants

Guide to Camponotus Ants of Australia

The purpose of this guide is to enable recognition of the ant genus Camponotus, and identification of 143 species within this genus which have so far been described from Australia.

You can download a free pdf via the website I’ve linked to, or purchase a paperback copy.

Download from South Australian Museum

Pocket Guide: Ants of South-East Queensland

A comprehensive pocket-sized guide to the ants commonly found in Southeast Queensland.

Buy from Queensland Museum

Waterbugs

Great for beginners

The Waterbug Book

Full of practical tips about where to find various animals, and what their presence can tell about their environment.

The Waterbug Book provides a comprehensive and accurate identification guide for both professionals and non-professionals. It contains an easy-to-use key to all the macroinvertebrate groups and, for the first time, high quality colour photographs of live specimens. It provides a wealth of basic information on the biology of macroinvertebrates, and describes the SIGNAL method for assessing river health. The Waterbug Book is full of practical tips about where to find various animals, and what their presence can tell about their environment.

Buy from The Waterbug Shop

Pictorial Guide to the Haliplidae (crawling water beetles) of Australia

Crawling water beetles , so named because of their normal hind legs rather than ones strongly modified for swimming, are a small family of small sized (2.0-6.0 mm long) water beetles with a world-wide distribution. Morphologically uniform, once recognized they are easy to spot. Nineteen species have been recorded in Australia, mostly endemic, but three of our species are also found in New Guinea, and one in New Caledonia. Australia species all belong to the cosmopolitan genus Haliplus. Crawling rather than swimming they are found among emergent vegetation, virtually always in still water such as billabongs and the side pools of creeks.

Download from South Australian Museum

Pictorial Guide to the Australian Whirligig Beetles

Whirligig beetles are a prominent feature of ponds, rivers and streams throughout Australia where swarms of them often attract attention by their rapid gyrations on the surface.

The purpose of this guide is to enable the identification of adults of each of the Australian species and many of their larvae by means of a photographic illustration of each species and illustrations of a few important characters that, together with a location, we hope, will be enough to identify each species.

Download from South Australian Museum

Pictorial Guide To The Diving Beetles (Dytiscidae) Of South Australia

Among the most important insects in fresh water in South Australia are the diving beetles (Family Dytiscidae). This is particularly true of still water – ponds, dams, slow flowing creeks and swamps.

Download from South Australian Museum

Snails and Freshwater Molluscs

Field guide to the non-marine molluscs of south eastern Australia

The non-marine molluscs form a significant part of the invertebrate fauna of South-eastern Australia. Several species are of economic importance, mainly pests and parasite vectors. Non-marine molluscs are also valuable as environmental indicators and are used extensively by ecologists in environmental impact studies. This field guide of non-marine molluscs is intended as a check-list and a field and laboratory identification manual to this diverse and significant group. It is intended to give a current assessment of the knowledge of this group and is the logical next step in the available literature. The book provides basic information on the study and identification of an important group of Australian animals and it is hoped that it will stimulate further research into the native fauna of this most man-modified part of Australia.

Downoad from ANU

Australian Land Snails: A Field Guide to Eastern Australian Species

The first book in over 140 years to document native Australian snails, it features almost 600 pages of stunning colour images, descriptions, distribution maps, key localities, habitat and ecology notes as well as a key to the 44 families in eastern Australia.

Australian Land Snails Volume 1 is a guide is for both professional and semi-professional malacologists, students, amateur natural historians, land managers and anyone with an interest in the natural world.

Buy From Queensland Museum

Australian Land Snails: Volume 2

Australian Land Snails Volume 2 covers 756 species in 39 families from an area that extends from western Queensland and New South Wales to Victoria and Tasmania, South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory; several species from Christmas Island are also included. The field guide is dominated by the Camaenidae (480 species) which has radiated exuberantly in the semi-arid and arid areas of Australia. Contained in the guide are more than 2000 colour images plus descriptions, distribution maps, key localities and habitat and ecology notes. Most species are illustrated in colour for the first time. Thirty-five genera and five species are described as new.

This guide is targeted at both professional and semi-professional malacologists as well as students, amateur natural historians and those involved in land management. But whether it is used as a manual for study or as an identification handbook, this field guide should be an inspiration for those with an interest in the natural world.

Buy from  Queensland Museum

Other

A Guide to Mosquitoes of Australia

Mosquitoes are annoying, and can be deadly, but they can also be beautiful. A Guide to Mosquitoes of Australia explores the biodiversity of this fascinating group of insects. It provides a pictorial guide to almost 100 mosquito species and includes notes on their biology, habitats and association with disease. They are found in almost every type of environment, from pristine wetlands to polluted drains and from coastal saltmarshes to snow melt streams.

Australia has a diverse range of mosquitoes and although relatively few pose a serious health risk, public health is an important issue. This book provides information on how to reduce the risk of mosquito-borne disease through tips on keeping your home free of mosquitoes and reducing their bites when you are out and about in the Australian environment.

Buy from Booktopia

Read an Interview with one of the authors, Cameron Webb

A Guide to the Cockroaches of Australia

Reveals the diversity and beauty of most of the 550 species of Australian cockroaches, with illustrated keys.

A Guide to the Cockroaches of Australia is a comprehensive account of most of the 550 described species found in Australia. The book reveals their diversity and beauty, it looks in detail at their morphology, habitats and ecology, and explains how to collect and preserve them. Importantly, it will allow pest controllers, students and researchers to reliably identify most of the common pest species as well as the non-pest cockroaches. It will also, perhaps, go some way towards elevating the reputation of these much-maligned insects, and promote further study of them.

Buy from Booktopia

A Guide to the Katydids of Australia

Katydids are among the most commonly seen Australian insects. They range in size from about 5 mm to well over 90 mm and occur in many habitats all over Australia. Katydids are masters of deception, imitating twigs, bark, leaves and stems, as well as other insects. A few are brightly coloured and are distasteful to predators. They continue to be research subjects in many university curricula, where students study their behaviour, acoustical physiology and ecology.

A Guide to the Katydids of Australia explores this diverse group of insects from the family Tettigoniidae, which comprises more than 1000 species in Australia, including Norfolk and Lord Howe islands. It highlights their relationships to plants, humans and the environment, and includes colour photographs of many species.

Buy from Nokomis Publications

Saving the Lord Howe Island Stick Insect

Phasmid is the amazing true story of the Lord Howe Island Phasmid, or Stick Insect.  This wonderful tale captures the life of one of the world’s most critically endangered invertebrates, from beginning life as an egg to surviving harsh environments and the hopeful return to their homeland, Lord Howe Island.

With a captivating narrative by Rohan Cleave, invertebrate zookeeper at Melbourne Zoo, and stunning watercolour illustrations by renowned artist Coral Tulloch, Phasmid is a positive story about one species’ incredible survival in a time of worldwide species decline.

Buy from Booktopia

The Complete Field Guide to Stick and Leaf Insects of Australia

Australia has a rich diversity of phasmids – otherwise known as stick and leaf insects. Most of them are endemic, few have been studied and new species continue to be found. Stick insects are, by far, Australia’s longest insects – some of them reach up to 300 mm in body length, or more than half a metre if you include their outstretched legs. Many stick insects are very colourful, and some have quite elaborate, defensive behaviour. Increasingly they are being kept as pets.

This is the first book on Australian phasmids for nearly 200 years and covers all known stick and leaf insects. It includes photographs of all species, notes on their ecology and biology as well as identification keys suitable for novices or professionals.

Buy from Nokomis Publications

A photo guide to the common cicadas of the Greater Sydney Region

A comprehensive, yet easy to follow field guide for 22 of the most common cicada species in the Greater Sydney Region of New South Wales, Australia.

This book is a first of its kind in Australia. It is a fantastic educational resource to not only help you identify some of the cicada species in Sydney, but also to introduce some of our unique cicada diversity in Australia. It is written is an easy-to-understand language and has a detailed description of how to use the book and “sound out” the calls of each cicada species.

Buy from Ebay

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