Our two titles on invertebrates (insects and spiders) from Kazakhstan. The insects volume is essentially a photo guide, with 1110 stunning macro-photographs. The spider volume constitutes the first major documentation of this interesting fauna, providing a richly illustrated popular account of 176 spider species of 41 families, which represent most of the genera (except those of Linyphiidae) recorded from Kazakhstan. The general appearance of 45 species is illustrated in colour for the first time. The book also contains complete checklists of all the arachnids, apart from Acari (mites and ticks), recorded from Kazakhstan to date: Araneae (spiders) – 978 species; Opiliones (harvestmen) – 21 species; Solifugae (camel spiders) – 13 species; Scorpiones (scorpions) – five species; and Pseudoscorpiones (false-scorpions) – 25 species. 

The Republic of Kazakhstan is located in the Northern Hemisphere on the boundary of the two continents of Europe and Asia, and with a total area of approximately 2.7 million square kilometres, represents the largest land-locked country and the ninth largest country in the world. It shares borders with Russia to the north-west, north and east; the Central Asian states of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Kyrgystan to the south; China to the south-east and the Caspian Sea to the west. Because of its transcontinental geography and the great variety of natural habitats and climatic features prevailing throughout most of the Republic, it is home to a high diversity of different species, many of which can be expected to be of scientific interest from a zoogeographical perspective, for example the many endemic and relict species.