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Documenting moths in the Darjeeling Himalaya for National Moth Week

03.09.2020

The Darjeeling Himalaya area is a mountainous region in the northwest of West Bengal, India. The Darjeeling Himalaya is known for its rich diversity of moths, yet few studies have documented moths in the region. To this day, the extent of the diversity of moth species in the area is unknown. Though the caterpillars of a few species can be pests, moths’ benefits far outweigh their roles as pests. They are important pollinators and also serve as food for many species.

The Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment, Eastern Himalaya-Northeast India Office, took part in the ninth annual National Moth Week, 18 to 26 July, in the Darjeeling Himalaya. The organization encouraged communities and field staff to photograph and document moths visiting their homes during the week dedicated to moths. During the week, participants were asked to take nighttime surveys of moths. People participated in these surveys through organized events or individually from their own gardens and homes.

Sixteen observers participated in this event from 12 different locations: nine from Darjeeling, two from the Kalimpong district in West Bengal and one from North Sikkim. Photographs taken of moths from participants’ homes were sent to a community group on WhatsApp, from which the data was uploaded to iNaturalist.org, an online citizen science portal.

In total, 915 mothing events were registered during National Moth Week 2020. Nearly 300 observations of moths from the Himalaya area were submitted during this year’s National Moth Week. These comprised 117 unique taxa from 20 families. Over 95 percent of the observations have been identified to the family level or further, and more than 35 percent have been identified to the genus level or further. Twenty-six unique species have been identified so far.

View the observations

News from Rohit George

Photo from Anum Topgay, Hee-Gyathang, SK – ATREE Eastern Himalaya