UKolkata, 30 July (H.S.): India has achieved a historic milestone in biodiversity research and taxonomy with the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), an organisation under the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, completing the country's first comprehensive national catalogue of butterflies and moths (Lepidoptera). The achievement places India among a select group of megadiverse nations with an updated and authoritative inventory of its Lepidoptera diversity.

The project was completed after 12 years of sustained research led by ZSI scientists Dr Navneet Singh and Dr Rahul Joshi. The exercise involved extensive field surveys, examination of museum collections and rigorous verification of scientific literature. The final and concluding volume of the catalogue has been published in the internationally reputed scientific journal Zootaxa.

According to ZSI, the catalogue bridges taxonomic gaps that had persisted for more than a century and will serve as a crucial reference for biodiversity conservation, ecological research and climate change studies.

The catalogue records 13,703 species of butterflies and moths in India, classified under 3,705 genera, 240 subfamilies, 102 families and 31 superfamilies. These account for nearly 8.25 per cent of all known Lepidoptera species worldwide.

The final volume documents the remaining 1,689 species, resolving several long-standing taxonomic uncertainties.

ZSI said India has also emerged as a globally significant centre for Geometroidea moths. The country is home to 2,205 species belonging to 479 genera, 13 subfamilies and four families, representing nearly 8.80 per cent of the world's known Geometroidea diversity.

Among them, the Geometridae family is the largest, with 2,100 species, followed by Uraniidae with 95 species, Epicopeiidae with nine species and Pseudobistonidae with one species.

Scientists noted that butterflies and moths play a vital role in maintaining ecological balance by contributing to pollination, food chains, decomposition and the sustainability of agriculture and forestry ecosystems. India's diverse landscapes, ranging from the Himalayas to the tropical forests of the Western Ghats, provide ideal habitats for these species.

ZSI Director Dr Dhriti Banerjee said the catalogue would become an invaluable national resource for biodiversity research, ecological monitoring and global conservation efforts. She said such comprehensive scientific documentation provides species with an authoritative identity and forms a strong foundation for future conservation policies and biodiversity management.

Hindusthan Samachar / Satya Prakash Singh