| Series | Field Studies Council AIDGAP Guides |
| Author | A.D. Barber |
| Language | English |
| ISBN | 9781851532421 |
| Publisher | Field Studies Council Publications |
| Pages | 96 |
| Format | Paperback |
| Images | Illustrations and colour images |
| Year published | 2008 |
The guide includes 7 species that only occur in greenhouses. It includes dichotomous and tabular keys backed up by concise confirmatory notes.
Centipedes are some of the commonest larger arthropods in greenhouses, sheds, gardens, waste ground, woodland, moorland and coastal habitats. But the standard key (Eason, 1964) is now out of date and out of print. This key includes the additional ten species discovered during the last 40 years.
This centipedes guide is part of the FSC’s AIDGAP series (Aids to Identification in Difficult Groups of Animals and Plants). The aim of AIDGAP series is to produce accessible keys suitable for non-specialists from age 16+. Although written by specialists, all AIDGAP guides go through field tests in draft form. As with all guides in the series, the Centipedes AIDGAP underwent extensive testing before publication, by beginners and specialists alike. The author has revised this, the first published version, in the light of the testers’ experience.
Accurate identification of specimens is an important part of biological fieldwork. Although popular groups such as wild flowers and butterflies are well-served, many other groups are neglected. Since 1976, the AIDGAP project has published over 40 straightforward and clearly written identification keys to many different groups of plants, animals and other taxa. In many cases a newly published AIDGAP guide has led to an immediate upsurge in the number and spread of biological records.
