Loading…
The Zoological Survey of India completed the first comprehensive Catalogue of Lepidoptera of India on 30 July 2026.
It documents 13,703 species of butterflies and moths, about 8.25% of all known Lepidoptera species worldwide.
The catalogue covers 3,705 genera, 240 subfamilies, 102 families and 31 superfamilies, arranged in 22 volumes.
The project took 12 years, combining field surveys, museum studies and verification of scientific literature.
The final volume, covering the remaining 1,689 species, was published in the international journal Zootaxa.
Over a century and a half of research on Indian insects produced descriptions scattered across colonial-era monographs, foreign museum collections and journals in several languages, with the same species often described more than once under different names. A national catalogue reconciles all of that into a single verified checklist, settling which names are valid and which are synonyms, and fixing where each species is recorded. Nothing quantitative can be done in ecology without that foundation: you cannot say a species is declining, or that a region has lost diversity, or that a population is responding to climate change, unless there is an agreed baseline of what existed and what it was called. Butterflies and moths are particularly valuable here because they are sensitive to temperature and vegetation change and have short life cycles, which makes them useful indicator species for monitoring ecosystem health.
Simple Analogy: It is the difference between a pile of unsorted land deeds and a proper land register. Only the second lets you say with confidence what is owned, by whom, and what has changed.
Premier institution for animal taxonomy and faunal survey in India, established in 1916; conducts faunal exploration and publishes the annual 'Animal Discoveries' report
The corresponding institution for plant taxonomy, established in 1890; both function under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change
GS Paper III > Biodiversity and conservation
General Awareness > Environment, biology and institutions
General Awareness > General science and environment
Which of the following statements is/are correct? Proper design and effective implementation of UN-REDD+ Programme can significantly contribute to 1. protection of biodiversity 2. resilience of forest ecosystems 3. poverty reduction Select the correct answer using the code given below.
Answer: 1, 2 and 3
Due to some reasons, if there is a huge fall in the population of species of butterflies, what could be its likely consequence/consequences? 1. Pollination of some plants could be adversely affected. 2. There could be a drastic increase in the fungal infections of some cultivated plants. 3. It could lead to a fall in the population of some species of wasps, spiders and birds. Select the correct answer using the code given below:
Answer: 1 and 3 only
Consider the following statements: 1. Most of the world's coral reefs are in tropical waters. 2. More than one-third of the world's coral reefs are located in the territories of Australia, Indonesia and Philippines. 3. Coral reefs host far more number of animal phyla than those hosted by tropical rainforests. Which of the statements given above is/are correct?
Answer: 1, 2 and 3
Which one of the following National Parks lies completely in the temperate alpine zone?
Answer: Valley of Flowers National Park
The "Miyawaki method" is well known for the:
Answer: Creation of mini forests in urban areas
The insect order comprising butterflies and moths, named from the Greek for 'scaly winged'.
The beetles — the largest insect order, ahead of Lepidoptera.
An international journal of animal taxonomy, in which the catalogue's final volume was published.
A species whose condition signals the broader health of an ecosystem; butterflies and moths are widely used in this role.
A scientific name later found to refer to a species already described under another name.