Journal of Threatened Taxa |
www.threatenedtaxa.org | 26 November 2024 | 16(11): 26185–26186
ISSN 0974-7907 (Online) | ISSN
0974-7893 (Print)
https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9503.16.11.26185-26186
#9503 |
Received 19 November 2024
Fairies of the day and angels of the night
Chitra Narayanasami
Department of Agricultural Entomology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural
University, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu 641003, India.
Date of publication: 26
November 2024 (online & print)
Citation:
Narayanasami, C. (2024). Fairies of the day and angels of the night.
Journal of Threatened Taxa 16(11):
26185–26186. https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.9503.16.11.26185-26186
Copyright: © Narayanasami 2024. Creative
Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
JoTT allows unrestricted use, reproduction,
and distribution of this article in any medium by providing adequate credit to
the author(s) and the source of publication.
After the publication of Edward
Osborne Wilson’s magnum opus ‘Biodiversity’ in 1988, the term biodiversity
became the most-spelt word across the globe in relation to conservation of
nature. Subsequently, Meyers’s classification of biodiversity hotspots in 1988
was another eye opener raising concern over the protection of the crucially
important natural treasure troves that housed unique flora and fauna in these
hotspots. The most widely accepted definition of biodiversity hotspots, viz.,
according to The Critical Ecosystem Partnership Fund biodiversity hotspots is “areas
on Earth that house a minimum of 1,500 species of vascular plants, known as
‘endemic’ species, and have experienced the loss of at least 70 per cent of
their primary native vegetation”. In India, the Western Ghats are one of the
biodiversity hotspots of international reputation endowed with unique endemic
flora and fauna besides their rich cultural values and immense ecological
importance. Running parallel to India’s western coast the Western Ghats
traverse across the states of Kerala,
Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Goa, Maharashtra, and Gujarat occupying an area of
1,40,000 km². Wilson’s “little things that run
the world” and “the silent majority” namely the insects, generally, are under
appreciated and have received lesser attention as compared to the other flora
and fauna in these regions. For example, as per the estimate from the United
Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation, around 54% of
plants, 65% of amphibians, 62% of reptiles, and 53% of fishes are categorized
as endemic. The status of the invertebrates, particularly insects, remain to be
studied extensively in the Western Ghats.
Lepidoptera (butterflies and
moths), especially the butterflies, are admired for their beauty, colour,
elegance, while the moths are not as popular as the butterflies. This may be
attributed to their nocturnal habit and lesser appeal. In the recent days,
moths are a volatile subject of study in the field of biology considering their
significance and their role in the functioning of the different ecosystems. Apart
from this, Lepidoptera gained importance in the field of agriculture as crop
pests, pollinators, and are also commercially exploited, for instance, the
variety of silkworms that provide the much favoured
special fibre “the silk”. In addition, Lepidoptera is part of the cuisines
either raw or cooked in different parts of the world. They have captured the
vivid imagination of innumerable poets also in different languages globally.
Previous recent publications like
‘South Indian Butterflies’ by K. Gunathilagaraj, T.N.
Perumal, K. Jayaram, & M. Ganesh Kumar (2015) and
‘A Guide to the Butterflies of Western Ghats’ by Milind Bhakare
& Hemant Ogale (2018) seized the minds of
butterfly enthusiasts. As mentioned earlier, moths despite their enduring
beauty and significance suffer step-motherly treatment in comparison to the
butterflies. Thus, the publication of ‘A Field Guide to Common Butterflies
& Moths (Lepidoptera) of Western Ghats’ is a progressive step in knowing
the Lepidoptera of the Western Ghats. The authors are to be applauded for
including the moths.
In the preface, the authors have
indicated that this field guide is an extended part of DST-SERB-Accelerate
Vigyan Scheme. The book encompasses 122 species of butterflies and 349 species
of moths. In the introduction, the biology, common resting positions,
collection & preservation of Lepidoptera, and the status of the butterfly
diversity in the Western Ghats are provided. Next family-wise Lepidoptera are
illustrated with mind-blowing and captivating photographs, with details of the
distribution, status of protection as per the Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972,
larval host plants, and brief diagnostic characters and some special remarks
for a few species. Diagnostic characters are provided only for the butterflies.
The common “step-motherly syndrome of the moths” prevails in this book. If the
diagnostic characters of the moths had also been included this beautiful field
guide would be consummate. Fascinating and fabulous photography speak volumes
on the beauty of the Lepidoptera and is the forte of this field guide.
Two species of moths, viz., Maruca fuscalis
Yamanaka, 1998 (Crambidae) in p. 90 and Ambulyx matti
(Jordan, 1928) in p.110 require further scrutiny on their identity. This may be
new records for India if the identity is correct. Trivial inadequacies of the
field guide are: host plant family names Leguminosae and Fabaceae are given
instead of Fabaceae only as per the recent nomenclature of plant family names,
older names of countries like Ceylon, Burma and their present names Sri Lanka
and Myanmar are spilled across the guide without uniformity, the plant family
names those given in brackets for example in p.110 it is written as (combretaceae) with the first letter of the plant family
name in lower case, and in the title of the book “the” before the Western Ghats
is missing which is generally given for a group of mountains, hills, islands,
states. Trivial things make perfection but perfection
is not trivial.
The authors are to be congratulated for their
commendable efforts to document the Lepidoptera of the Western Ghats. Further,
the cost of the book is reasonable, and this field guide should be a part of
every nature lover’s bookshelf.