Why in the News?
The Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has published the Catalogue of Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths) of India in the peer-reviewed journal Zootaxa. The catalogue, prepared over nearly 12 years, provides an updated national inventory of India’s butterfly and moth diversity.
Key Findings
- India has 13,703 species of Lepidoptera.
- This represents about 8.25% of the world’s known Lepidoptera.
- Butterflies: 1,417 species
- Moths: 12,286 species
- These are distributed across: 3,705 genera, 240 subfamilies, 102 families, 31 superfamilies
Geometroidea
- 2,205 species of Geometroidea have been catalogued in India.
- They belong to: 479 genera, 13 subfamilies, and 4 families
- They constitute around 8.8% of the world’s known Geometroidea.
- Many are nocturnal pollinators, complementing daytime pollinators such as butterflies.
- Note: Geometridae is a very large family of slender-bodied, broad-winged moths.
