A Practical Handbook of British Beetles
Encyclopedia
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
beetle
Beetle
Coleoptera is an order of insects commonly called beetles. The word "coleoptera" is from the Greek , koleos, "sheath"; and , pteron, "wing", thus "sheathed wing". Coleoptera contains more species than any other order, constituting almost 25% of all known life-forms...
fauna, by Norman H. Joy
Norman H. Joy
Norman Humbert Joy was a British ornithologist and coleopterist.He is best known for his two-volume work A Practical Handbook of British Beetles, first published by H. F. & G. Witherby in January 1932, a publication which remained the standard work on the identification of British beetles into the...
, first published by H. F. & G. Witherby in January 1932. Volume one (xxviii + 622 pages) consists of the text (largely a set of identification keys, with brief status notes for each species). Volume two (194 pages) contains 2040 line-drawings of whole beetles and features referred to in the keys (390 of these were taken from Spry and Shuckard
William Edward Shuckard
William Edward Shuckard was an English bookseller and entomologist.He was also librarian of the Royal Society and translated Manual of Entomology Hermann Burmeister .He was a specialist in Hymenoptera but worked onColeoptera in his early years).-Publications:Partial list* A Description of the...
's 1840 publication The British Coleoptera Delineated but the remainder were drawn by Joy). A reduced-size reprint was produced by E. W. Classey in 1976, and again in 1997.
Despite its age, it has remained the standard work on the identification of British beetles into the 21st century, although the British Entomological and Natural History Society
British Entomological and Natural History Society
The British Entomological and Natural History Society or BENHS is a British entomological society. It is based at Dinton Pastures Country Park in Reading.-History:BENHS was founded in 1872 as the South London Entomological and Natural History Society....
produced a companion volume, New British Beetles - species not in Joy's practical handbook by Peter J. Hodge and Richard A. Jones
Richard A. Jones
-Early life and education:Born in Seattle, Washington, Jones received a Bachelor of Public Affairs from Seattle University in 1972 and a J.D. from the University of Washington School of Law in 1975.-Career:...
in 1995. British coleopterists refer to the book colloquially simply as "Joy".