A report on the moth (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) diversity of Kavvai River basin in Kerala, India

Abstract

In the present paper, we report the presence of 503 species of moths (343 identified to species, 160 identified to genus) that belong to 371 genera under 42 families. The study was conducted at Kavvai River basin, northern Kerala, India for three years from 2015 to 2017. Traditional light trapping method was employed to collect the moths during the night. Among the families reported, Erebidae was the most dominant family followed by Crambidae, Geometridae, Noctuidae, and Pyraliade. The study highlights the significance of the riverbasin in conserving rich diversity of invertebrates.

Moths Diversity in Barsuan Range, Bonai Forest Division, Odisha, India and their Ecological Importance

“…Komal et al [2] reported 338 moths from Delhi. Alex et al [13] reported 503 species of moths from Kavvai river basin of Kerala.…”

Little Bear Moth of the Genus <i>Phykodes</i> Rindsberg (Lepidoptera: Brachodidae): A Lesser-Known and New Pest from the Western Ghats of India

“…Distribution: India (Bihar; Kerala, Maharashtra (New record); New Delhi; Punjab); Afghanistan; Iran; Nepal; Pakistan, Peshawar; Sri Lanka (Kallies, 2004;Kumar and Ramamurthy, 2010;Ramezan et al 2011;Alex et al, 2021).…”

“…Hence, the present study provides only the key characters. P. radiata was reported from the Northern part of India (Kumar and Ramamurthy, 2010), and recently in 2021 it is reported from the Kavvai River Basin of Kerala, India (Alex et al, 2021). There are no reports of this pest from the Western Ghats and Maharashtra so far.…”