Information about invertebrates, including how many there are in Britain, what is an invertebrate and what different types or species of invertebrates exist.
Types of Terrestrial Invertebrates in Britain
Italics = groups that are non-native, but established in the UK.
Bold = Phylum (and subphylum)
Normal font = Class
Indented font = Order
Double indent = Sub order
How to find your way around: below is a long list of types of terrestrial (i.e. living on land) invertebrates in Britain. The names are given both in Latin and in English. For a PDF containing information on all species listed below, see Terrestrial Invertebrates.
Protozoa
Platyhelminthes (flatworms)
Turbellaria (free-living flatworms)
Monogenea (flukes)
Trematoda (flukes)
Cestoda (tapeworms)
Nematoda (round-worms)
Cephalorhyncha
Nematomorpha (horsehair worms)
Annelida (segmented worms)
Clitellata
•Oligochaeta (earthworms and oligochaete worms)
•Hirudinea (leeches)
Mollusca
Gastropoda (snails and slugs)
Arthropoda
Crustacea
•Malacostraca
•Isopoda (woodlice)
•Amphipoda (sand-hoppers)
Chelicerata
Arachnida
◦Scorpiones (scorpions)
◦Aranea (spiders)
◦Opiliones (harvestmen)
◦Pseudoscorpiones (pseudoscorpions)
◦Parasitiformes (ticks)
◦Acariformes (mites)
Myriapoda
•Chilopoda (centipedes)
•Diplopoda (millipedes)
•Symphyla (symphylans)
•Pauropoda (pauropods)
•Insecta
•Diplura (diplurans)
•Collembola (springtails)
•Protura (proturans)
•Thysanura (silver-fish)
•Microcoryphia (bristletails)
•Ephemeroptera (mayflies)
•Odonata (dragonflies)
•Plecoptera (stoneflies)
•Blattaria (cockroaches)
•Dermaptera (earwigs)
•Orthoptera (grasshoppers and crickets)
•Phasmida (stick insects)
•Psocoptera (booklice)
•Mallophaga (biting lice)
•Anoplura (sucking lice)
•Thysanoptera (thrips)
•Hemiptera
◦Heteroptera (true bugs)
◦Homoptera (aphids, cicadas, etc.)
Coleoptera (beetles)
•Strepsiptera (stylopids)
•Hymenoptera ◦Symphyta (sawflies)
◦Parasitica (parasitic wasps)
◦Aculeata (bumblebees, bees, wasps and ants)
•Raphidioptera (snakeflies)
•Neuroptera (ant-lions, lacewings, etc.)
•Megaloptera (alderflies)
•Mecoptera (scorpionflies)
•Diptera (true flies)
◦Nematocera (craneflies, midges, etc.)
◦Brachycera (hoverflies, etc.)
•Siphonaptera (fleas)
Trichoptera (caddisflies)
Lepidoptera (moths and butterflies)
Pentastoma (tongue-worms)
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