India confirmed as a global lepidoptera hotspot

Why in the News?

A Zoological Survey of India catalogue, published in the journal Zootaxa, records 13,703 species of butterflies and moths in India, about 8.25% of the world total. The finding reinforces India’s standing among the world’s megadiverse nations and provides a baseline for insect conservation.

What does the catalogue record?

1. Total species: India hosts 13,703 lepidoptera species, comprising 1,417 butterflies and 12,286 moths.
2. Global share: This is about 8.25% of all butterfly and moth species worldwide.
3. Source: The catalogue was compiled by the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) and published in the taxonomic journal Zootaxa.

Why is this significant?

1. Megadiverse status: The count reinforces India’s position as one of the world’s megadiverse countries.
2. Baseline data: A comprehensive species list provides a baseline against which future losses or discoveries can be measured.
3. Ecological role: Butterflies and moths are pollinators and prey species, so their diversity signals ecosystem health.

What is Lepidoptera?

1. It is the order of butterflies, a large biological order that includes insects such as moths, and skippers.
2. With about 180,000 species worldwide, it is the second largest order in the insect kingdom after the beetles (Coleoptera).

Why does lepidoptera diversity matter for conservation?

1. Pollination service: Many butterfly and moth species pollinate wild and cultivated plants.
2. Food web link: They sustain populations of birds, spiders and wasps that feed on them.
3. Indicator species: Their sensitivity to habitat change makes them useful indicators of environmental stress.

Conclusion

The ZSI catalogue documents India’s exceptional lepidoptera diversity and its megadiverse status. The species baseline is a foundation for tracking ecosystem health. Butterflies and moths matter because they anchor pollination and food webs across habitats.

Back2Basics:

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI)

1. Establishment: Founded in 1916 as the premier taxonomic research organisation for animal life in India.
2. Ministry: Functions under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
3. Headquarters: Kolkata.
4. Mandate: Survey, exploration and documentation of India’s faunal diversity.

PYQ Relevance

[2017] Due to some reasons, if there is a huge fall in the population of species of butterflies, what could be its likely consequence/consequences?

1. Pollination of some plants could be adversely affected. 2. There could be a drastic increase in the fungal infections of some cultivated plants. 3. It could lead to a fall in the population of some species of wasps, spiders and birds.

Select the correct answer using the code given below:

(a) 1 only (b) 2 and 3 only (c) 1 and 3 only (d) 1, 2 and 3 Answer: (c)