All images on this website have been taken in Leicestershire and Rutland by NatureSpot members. We welcome new contributions - just register and use the Submit Records form to post your photos. Click on any image below to visit the species page. The RED / AMBER / GREEN dots indicate how easy it is to identify the species - see our Identification Difficulty page for more information. A coloured rating followed by an exclamation mark denotes that different ID difficulties apply to either males and females or to the larvae - see the species page for more detail.

Beetles

Beetles represent the largest insect group with around 4,000 species in Britain and 300,000 worldwide. They are easy to recognise as their front wings are hard, covering the second pair of wings and the abdomen. All beetles have biting mouthparts. The beetle species in this gallery are grouped into families which are presented in taxonomic order according to the Checklist of Beetles of the British Isles (Duff 2012).

An annotated Checklist to the Beetles of VC55. G.L. Finch, February 2026

Identification help

Facebook Group: Leicestershire and Rutland Coleoptera Recording Scheme

Facebook Group: Beetles of Britain and Ireland

Mycetophagidae - Hairy Fungus Beetles

Ciidae - Minute Tree Fungus Beetles

Tetratomidae - Polypore Fungus Beetles

Melandryidae - False darkling beetles

Mordellidae - Tumbling flower beetles

Ripiphoridae - Wedge-shaped beetles

Zopheridae - Ironclad beetles

family

Tenebrionidae - Darkling beetles

Oedemeridae - False blister beetles

Pyrochroidae - Cardinal beetles

Salpingidae - Narrow-waisted bark beetles

Anthicidae - Ant-like flower beetles

Scraptiidae - False flower beetles

Cerambycidae - Longhorn beetles

VC55 Cerambycidae Atlas