PRELIMINARY REPORT ON MOTH DIVERSITY IN THE LANDSCAPE OF NANDHAUR WILDLIFE SANCTUARY: ADDING SUBSET TO LEPIDOPTERAN INSECTS OF PROTECTED AREA NETWORK

Nandhaur Wildlife Sanctuary (NWLS) established in 2012 is a newly carved wildlife sanctuary lying in Nainital and Champawat districts in the state of Uttarakhand. The present study aims to investigate and explore the unexplored moth diversity from the landscape of NWLS. A total of 347 individuals of moth belonging to 19 species and 18 genera under six families of order Lepidoptera were recorded during the entire study period. Erebidae was the most abundant and species-rich family with 10 species and 174 individuals, followed by Crambidae (four species), Sphingidae (two species) whereas families Eupterotidae, Geometridae and Saturniidae were represented by a single species, respectively. Spoladea recurvalis (Fabricius) which constituted 18.73% of total individuals recorded, followed by Cnaphalocrocis medinalis (Guenee), Syntomoides imaon Cramer (14.4% each) and Cyana detrita Walker (10.95%) were the most dominant species while Erebus caprimulgus (Fabricius) and Theretra nessus (Drury) were reported as the least dominant species (0.86%). Across the seasons, maximum species richness and diversity was calculated in rainy season followed by summer season and winter season. The diversity index of family Erebidae was maximum as compared to the other families. The value of Shannon-Wiener Diversity index (H’) was calculated as 2.52 and Margalef’s index of species richness was 3.07 for overall samplings depicting good diversity and richness of moth assemblages in and around the protected area. Thus, the landscape provides an opportunity for more extensive research on diversity and ecology of moths and also permit to assess the species richness of varying vegetation zones and to develop strategies for biodiversity conservation.