Posted by Matt Smith on 12-05-2010 19:34
#11
Larry Shone wrote:
What do you think of these?
Adrian C Pont Provisional atlas of the Sepsidae (Diptera) of the British Isles
Not one I have myself, but as it is an Atlas I doubt you will find any keys in it - the Provisional Atlases to Craneflies and to Larger Brachycera don't have keys - just dot maps.
Larry Shone wrote:
Lewis Davies Key to the British Species of Simuliidae (Diptera) in the Larval, Pupal and Adult Stages (Freshwater Biological Association, Scientific publication;no.24)
If I were just getting started I'd tend to avoid this group, lots of small flies which will need microscope work. FBA keys are generally very good though, I have most of them.
Larry Shone wrote:Harold Oldroyd Studies of African Asilidae (Diptera) (Bulletins, entomology / British Museum)
Probably ok if you are going to be collecting African Asilids, I would have thought not much use for general UK work
Larry Shone wrote:Harold Oldroyd Handbooks for the Identification of British Insects: Diptera: Tabanoidea and Asiloidea v.9
Pretty good for the most part, but has been superseded by Stubbs and Drake (see below).
If you want to make a start on a couple of groups of flies, I would definitely recommend either of the two books published by the BENHS:
Stubbs and Falk - British Hoverflies and Stubbs and Drake - British Soldierflies and their Allies. Both are well illustrated with either excellent paintings or photos and both have lots of species info and keys covering the UK fauna for these groups. If you are just starting out with keys, these will get you started without leaving you baffled.