Ladybird beetles

A new book, Ladybird Beetles (Coccinellidae) of Central Europe, has been published in the series Zoological keys in the publishing house Academia belonging to the Czech Academy of Sciences. It has been written by Oldřich Nedvěd and contributed by many photographers of nature. The book is bilingual, in Czech and English. It provides information on biology and ecological requirements of one hundred and one species of coccinellids living in Central Europe. Most species are illustrated by photographs of adult beetles, part of them also as larvae and pupae. Identification keys of all adults and selected larvae allow to determine specimens either according to characters diagnostic for subfamilies, tribes and genera, or according to colour pattern, other morphological and life history properties. The morphological characters are shown on line drawings combined in a single pictorial appendage.