Have you found a strange bug or a new plant in your garden, or stumbled across an intriguing animal bone or fossil while out on a country walk? Let us help you find out more about it.
Commercial enquiries
If your business requires advice or an identification of an object from the natural world (such as an insect, tooth, pest ID or CITES identification etc.) please contact our commercial service.
Getting help from our experts
The Museum's Identification and Advisory Service can answer your queries about insects, fossils, plants and other wildlife and natural history specimens found in the UK.
Online help
Email your images and detailed descriptions to:
- For life sciences, such as bugs, bones, and plants: bug@nhm.ac.uk
- For earth sciences, such as meteorites, minerals, rocks and fossils: esid@nhm.ac.uk
Or visit the service's Facebook page.
Please include as much detail as possible about the specimen, including:
- A detailed description
- Where and when you saw it
- Its approximate size (including a common object, such as a coin, in any photo is helpful)
Getting help in person, by phone or by post
For other ways to contact the ID team, please visit the Centre for UK Nature's page.
ID help via Facebook
Found something interesting?
The Museum's Identification service has a Facebook group to help answer your queries on plants, animals, fossils, rocks and minerals found in the British Isles.
Common UK plants, animals and rocks - downloadable ID guides
Animals
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Spiders in your home
What spider have you found in your house? Read our identification guides to the most common spiders found in UK homes.
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Common UK amphibians identification guide
This guide details the common amphibians you are likely to find around the UK.
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Common UK bumblebees ID guide
Download this pocket ID guide for the six most common UK bumblebees.
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Common insect and other invertebrate groups
A beginner's guide to the common groups of insect and other terrestrial invertebrate found in Britain.
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Guide to identifying common freshwater invertebrate groups
A beginner's guide to the common groups of freshwater invertebrates found in Britain.
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Common insect pest species in homes
Found a small black or brown bug in your house? Here are some common insect pests, help in identifying them, and advice on how to control them.
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Bats in flight identification guide
Download our handy guide to five of the most common UK bat species.
Plants and algae
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Pavement Plants ID Guide
This guide will help you identify most plants that grow frequently on pavements in the UK.
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Wall Plants ID Guide
This is a guide to the plants most commonly found growing on walls in UK towns and cities.
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UK tree identification guide
Identify evergreen and deciduous trees found in the UK with this step-by-step guide.
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UK orchid guide
A beginner's guide to the common groups of insect and other terrestrial invertebrate found in Britain.
Seaweeds
Find out about some of the seaweeds around the British coast, both native and non-native.
Download the Big Seaweed Search guide PDF (3.4MB)
Visit the Big Seaweed Search webpage to help us record how seaweeds may be being affected by climate change.
Rocks and bones
New to wildlife monitoring? Start here.
If you're new to wildlife monitoring, we've an introductory guide that explains what it is and how to get started.
Specialist guides
Ichneumonids
A guide to 38 of Britain's most recognisable ichneumonid wasps.
Beginner's guide to identifying British ichneumonids PDF (7.8MB)
Vegetative guide to orchids
An aid to identifying 39 orchid species when they are not in flower.
Beginner's vegetative guide to orchids of the British Isles PDF (8.8MB)
British Tenthredo (sawflies)
A pictorial guide to the 30 species of Tenthredo sawfly found in Britain.
Beginner’s guide to identifying British Tenthredo PDF (156MB)
Beetle pinning guide
Advice on how to prepare beetle specimens.
British grasses
A multi-access key to the common families of British grasses, on the Tomorrow's Biodiversity website.
Related pages
Centre for UK Nature
Develop your natural history skills and interests with the help of our staff, facilities and resources.
Volunteer monitoring projects
Contribute to our scientific research. Take part in a wildlife survey, collect samples and data, or help us from home with a digital project.
Getting started with wildlife monitoring
Find out what schemes you can take part in, whatever habitat you are interested in.