01/08/14 - 04/08/14
One animal in four is a beetle and almost half a million species have been described worldwide. There are 20,000 species in Europe and about 4,000 in Britain. One species or another is associated with almost every kind of animal and vegetable material, from carrion and dung to grass roots and solid timber, yet most people only notice the ladybirds in the garden, or the black beetles that occasionally venture into their kitchen.
This course will familiarise you with the main groups of beetles that can be collected in terrestrial habitats, including woodland, grassland and shingle, found at Slapton Ley National Nature Reserve. Using reference material and your specimens it introduces you to beetle nomenclature, anatomy and identification.
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