Bugs

Great green bush-cricket (c) Steven Falk

Invertebrates make up around seven out of every ten species on the planet and are one of the essential building blocks for other lifeforms being amongst our most important decomposers creating nutrient rich soil, providing the essential service of pollination. They are worth well over a billion pounds per annum to the UK farming industry quite apart from providing the buzz of life.

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Invertebrates are animals that do not have a backbone.  There are seven groups of invertebrates:  Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Annelids, Crustaceans, Echinoderms and Protozoa. Vertebrates by contrast are spilt into five groups: mammals, birds, amphibians and reptiles and fish.

This section provides some tips on finding and identifying invertebrates particularly in the UK as well as some more detailed pages on some of the 40,000 species you may encounter in house, garden, stream or seaside. New bugs are being added all the time if you want to get involved in this then consider joining Buglife as all our members get the opportunity to create bug profiles for the site.

Browse our bug directory

If you have found a bug and want to know a bit more try our bug directory for an instant fact sheet about your bug

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Awesome bug facts!

£367 million

the annual value of dung beetles to the UK economy

8 out of 10

wildflowers depend on insect pollination

£691 million

the annual value of pollination to the UK economy

One in three

mouthfuls we eat depends on pollination

14 million kilograms

of insect prey, such as caterpillars and greenfly, eaten by wasps every year in the UK.

Featured bugs...

Wonderful wasps

Wasps are an important insect-controlling predator – find out more here

Love spiders

Spiders deserve our love not fear

Pollinators

Pollinators provide essential services to farmers and gardeners

Introduction to Beetles

Learn about Carrion Beetles

Help us to stop the extinction of invertebrate species

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From £3 per month, membership directly supports our vital conservation work. In return you receive member benefits and our bi-annual Buzz magazine.

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Donate to support us

Our work would not be possible without your support. Bees and other invertebrates need help to reverse the catastrophic declines in their numbers. Please donate today and together we can restore vital habitats and rebuild strong populations of invertebrates in the UK.

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