Species Identification
There are many free species identification resources available online, some of which are listed below.
If you know of any species identification resources missing from the below list, please contact us.
General
- NatureSpot
- Field Studies Council ID Resource Finder
- Steven Falk Flickr ID guides
- Eakring Birds
- iSpot Keys
- BioImages
- UK Safari
- Royal Entomological Society Out of Print Handbooks
- Richard Comont Blog
- Online Keys
- Database of Insects and their Food Plants
- List of National Schemes
- SEWBReC YouTube Playlists
- Pl@ntNet – plant identification from your images
- ObsIdentify – Recognize nature in one click!
Click a title to open or close a section
Amphibians and Reptiles
Beetles
- UK Beetle Recording
- Steven Falk Flickr Beetles
- Guides to British Beetles
- Mark Gurney Weevil Guides
- Mike's Insect Keys: British Beetles
- Richard Comont Blog
- Beetles Attracted to Light
- Dung Beetle UK Mapping Project
- Field Key to Soldier Beetles
- A guide to British soldier beetles
- Beetles of Britain and Ireland Facebook Group
- Weevils of Britain Facebook Group
- Longhorn Beetle Facebook Group
- Ladybirds of UK Facebook Group
- YouTube Playlist of Beetle Courses
- UK Glow Worm Survey
Ants, Bees and Wasps
- Bumblebee Conservation Trust
- Steven Falk Flickr Bees
- Mike's Insect Keys: Hymenoptera
- BWARS (Bees, Wasps & Ants Recording Scheme)
- UK Bees, Wasps & Ants Facebook Group
- The Sawflies of Britain and Ireland
- Sawfly Caterpillars
- Sawflies of Norfolk
- British & Irish Sawflies Facebook Group
- Beginner’s Guide to Identifying British Ichneumonids
- Key to Subfamilies of Ichneumonidae (Hymenoptera)
- British Ichneumonidae Facebook Group
- Social Wasp Guide
- Key to Common French Ants
- Quick Ant Guide
- YouTube Playlist of Bee courses
- YouTube Playlist of Wasp courses
Aquatic Invertebrates
- Freshwater Invertebrates Key
- The Riverfly Partnership
- Riverfly Recording Schemes
- Mike's Insect Keys: Mayflies
- Key to Mayflies
- Mike's Insect Keys: Caddisflies
- Caddisfly Catalogue
- Cladocera Interest Group
- Key to Cladocera (in French)
- Freshwater Diatom Flora of Britain and Ireland
- YouTube Playlist of Aquatic Invertebrate Courses
Birds
Bugs
Crickets and Grasshoppers
- Grasshoppers, Groundhoppers and Bush-crickets
- Earwigs, Cockroaches and Stick-insects
- A Guide to the Orthoptera and Dermaptera of Shropshire
- Shropshire Earwigs
- Steven Falk Flickr Cockroaches
- Steven Falk Flickr Orthoptera
- iRecord Grasshoppers App
- Orthoptera Calls on Xeno-canto
- UK Orthoptera Facebook Group
Dragonflies and Damselflies
Ferns and Flowering Plants
- BSBI Plant Identification Resources
- BSBI Flora Search
- BSBI Handbooks (ebooks)
- National Plant Monitoring Scheme Online Training
- Flora of East Anglia
- Ken's Keys
- British Wildflowers
- Wild Flower Finder
- Orchid Identification Guide
- Brambles of the British Isles
- Brambles Facebook Group
- Key to British and Irish Rubus Species (draft)
- Dandelions Facebook Group
- Key to British Carex
- Key to Groups of British Grasses
- Punch-card Key to Grasses
- Key to Vegetative Grasses
- British Trees
- Key to Urban Trees
- Conifers of Britain
- Fern ID
- Glamorgan Botany Facebook Group
- Monmouthshire Botany Facebook Group
- YouTube Playlist of Flowering Plant Courses
- YouTube Playlist of Lower Plant Courses
Flies
- Dipterists Forum
- Dipterists Forum Facebook Group
- Dipterists Forum Recording Schemes
- UK Diptera Facebook Group
- Steven Falk Flickr Diptera
- A Key To The Families Of British Diptera
- Mike's Insect Keys: British Diptera
- British Scathophagidae
- Craneflies of the World
- Cranefly Recording Scheme Twitter account
- Cranefly Recording Scheme Facebook Group
- Soldierflies and Allies
- British Soldierflies Facebook Group
- Tachinid Recording Scheme
- Tachinid Recording Scheme Facebook Group
- Horse Flies
- Conopids Facebook Group
- Blow Flies Facebook Group
- Flesh Flies Facebook Group
- UK Hoverflies Facebook Group
- Richard Comont Blog
- YouTube Playlist of Fly Courses
Fungi and Slime Moulds
Galls
Liverworts and Mosses
Mammals
Marine Life (including fish)
- Sea Watch Foundation
- MarLIN
- Marine Species Identification Portal
- Encyclopedia of Marine Life
- Shark Trust Eggcase Hunt
- Echinoid Directory
- Sponges of Britain & Ireland
- British Marine Isopods
- Marine Isopod Recording Scheme
- British Marine Mollusca Facebook Group
- Identification Of Intertidal Polyzoa
- Jellyfish ID Card
- Key to Coastal Diatoms
- Key to Sea Spiders (Pycnogonids)
- A Guide To The British Coastal Mysidacea (Opposum Shrimps)
- Seasearch Identifications Facebook Group
- NMW Spotter Guides inc Seaweed and Seashells
- Key to Seaweed Genera
- Key to British Brown Seaweed
- Key to Red Seaweeds
- Diatom Flora
- Big Seaweed Search
- AlgaeVision
- Seaweeds Facebook Group
Molluscs
Moths
- Suffolk Moths
- Norfolk Moths
- Butterfly Conservation: Identify a Moth
- UK Moths
- What's Flying Tonight
- Moth Dissection Guide
- Moth Dissection
- Lepidoptera Dissection Group
- British Lepidoptera
- UK Leps
- British Phyllonorycter Key
- British Pugs Key
- Gelechiid Recording Scheme
- Common Micro-moths of Berkshire (free e-book)
- Illustrated Guide to British Caterpillars
- Caterpillars UK Facebook Group
- YouTube Playlist of Moth & Butterfly courses
Non-Insect Invertebrates
- Bristletail.net
- British Myriapod and Isopod Group
- Introduction to the Identification of the Woodlice
- Isopods and Myriapods of Britain and Ireland Facebook Group
- Soil Biodiversity UK
- Soil Biodiversity UK Facebook Group
- Key to Cave Life in Britain
- YouTube Playlist of Invertebrate Courses
Springtails
- UK Collembola taxonomy and ecology
- Collembola.org
- Springtails of the Netherlands
- UK Collembola Facebook Group
Worms
Small Insect Orders
Spiders
- Spider Recording Scheme
- Families of British Spiders Key
- Steven Falk Flickr Arachnida
- Spiders of Europe
- Spiders of Belgium and France
- Spiders of North-West Europe
- World Spider Catalog
- British Spider Identification Facebook Group
- British Spiders Facebook Group
- Harvestmen of Norfolk
- Harvestmen of Britain and Ireland FSC Identikit
- Dutch Harvestmen
- Paul Richards Flickr UK Harvestmen
- UK Harvestman Facebook Group
- UK Pseudoscorpions
- Pseudoscorpions UK Facebook Group
- Ticks
- Bristol University Tick ID
- YouTube Playlist of Spider & Harvestman courses
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