India Completes 1st Catalogue Of Butterflies, Moths, Documents 13,703 Species

India has completed its first comprehensive catalogue of butterflies and moths after more than 12 years of work, documenting 13,703 species and bridging taxonomic gaps that had persisted for over a century, the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) said.The catalogue, prepared by the ZSI under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, has been compiled across 22 volumes and provides an updated taxonomic inventory of Indian Lepidoptera -- the insect order comprising butterflies and moths, the ZSI said in a press release.The final volume of the series, authored by ZSI taxonomists Dr Rahul Joshi and Dr Navneet Singh, has been published in the international journal Zootaxa.According to the survey, India is home to 13,703 species of butterflies and moths belonging to 3,705 genera, 240 subfamilies, 102 families and 31 superfamilies, accounting for around 8.25 per cent of the world's known Lepidoptera diversity.The concluding volume catalogues the remaining 1,689 species, completing what the ZSI described as the country's first authoritative and centralised taxonomic reference on the group.A major component of the project is a dedicated catalogue of the moth superfamily Geometroidea, which records 2,205 species under 479 genera, 13 subfamilies and four families in India.The Geometroidea fauna represents about 8.8 per cent of the world's known diversity in the superfamily, the survey said.Among the four families, Geometridae is the largest with 2,100 species, followed by Uraniidae with 95 species, Epicopeiidae with nine species and Pseudobistonidae with a single species. The family Sematuridae is absent from India.The most species-rich subfamilies are Ennominae with 895 species, Larentiinae with 565 species and Geometrinae with 309 species, it added.The project involved extensive field surveys, examination of museum collections and verification of scientific literature over more than a decade.ZSI Director Dr Dhriti Banerjee said the catalogue would serve as a key national resource for biodiversity research, ecological monitoring and conservation planning."These catalogue volumes will serve as a vital national asset for biodiversity research, ecological monitoring, and global conservation strategies. Such comprehensive catalogues ensure these species are given an authoritative voice, a clear legal identity, and a permanent place in scientific history," she said.The survey noted that butterflies and moths are important pollinators, herbivores and detritivores and form a critical part of the food chain for birds, bats and other insectivores. Many species also have significant implications for agriculture and forestry.It said the consolidated inventory would provide researchers, conservationists and policymakers with a scientific baseline for biodiversity assessment, ecological monitoring and studies on the impact of climate change across India's diverse ecosystems.(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)