Informatics Publishing Limited

Pritha Dey ¹, V. P. Uniyal ¹, Abesh K. Sanyal ¹

Affiliations
1 Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun Uttarakhand, IN

Abstract

Insects have long been ignored in the conservation approaches despite their fundamental roles in terrestrial ecosystems. Considering the lack in taxonomic expertise in the diverse insect groups, they are slowly making their way into the biodiversity monitoring studies. Moths belonging to the third largest insect order Lepidoptera are a hugely diverse and functionally important group, which can be a potential bio-indicator group in this present situation of environment degradation. Recent studies have brought this less studied group in focus for addressing conservation issues and a lot remains to be explored about this fascinating group of insects. In this paper we have shown some preliminary results of two studies done on moth assemblage in Western Himalayan Protected Areas. The studies aim to give an insight about the community structure and distribution patterns within the assemblages which can be a way forward for future bio-monitoring studies.

Keywords

Moths, Biodiversity Indicators, Western Himalaya, Protected Areas.

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Kailash Chandra ¹, Devanshu Gupta ², V. P. Uniyal ³, Abesh K. Sanyal ³, V. Bhargav ³

Affiliations
1 Zoological Survey of India, New Alipore, Kolkata-700053, West Bengal, IN
2 Zoological Survey of India, Jabalpur-482002, Madhya Pradesh, IN
3 Wildlife Institute of India, Chandrabani, Dehradun, Uttarakhand, IN

Abstract

Scarabaeid beetles comprise a speciose group and are a conspicuous component of the beetle fauna of World. Adults of these beetles are noticeable due to their relatively large size, bright colors, often elaborate ornamientation, and interesting life histories. Life histories of scarab beetles are incredibly diverse and include adults that feed on dung, carrion, fungi, vegetation, pollen, fruits, compost, or ischolar_mains. On the other hand some scarab beetles live in the nests of ants (myrmiecophiles), in the nests of termites (termitophiles), or in the nests of rodents or birds.

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