Moth found in Tirunelveli, Thoothukudi districts after 127 years; photographed for first time

Moth Mimeusemia ceylonica, which was rediscovered in Tirunelveli district in 2020 after 127 years by two researchers. Photo: Special Arrangement

Two researchers from Tamil Nadu have noticed a uncommon moth species for the first time in India in the buffer zone of Kalakkad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) after it was final sighted 127 years in the past – at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka in 1893.

Interestingly, the researchers, Thalavaipandi Subbaiah of Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE) and Prashanth Prakhalathan of Tamil Nadu Wetland Mission, are the first in the world to {photograph} the moth species Mimeusemia ceylonica, as solely an illustration of the insect existed beforehand. Recognising this feat, worldwide peer-reviewed journal on animal science Species had revealed an article on their work in February this 12 months.

Mimeusemia ceylonica is a moth species belonging to the subfamily Agaristinae and household Noctuidae. It was first illustrated and described by English entomologist George Hampson in 1893. The species was rediscovered throughout a moth survey performed on October 11, 2020 on the Agasthyamalai Community-based Conservation Centre (ACCC) located in the buffer zone of KMTR, Tirunelveli district by Mr. Thalavaipandi and Mr. Prashanth.

After recognizing the moth in the identical space on November 5, 2021, Mr. Thalavaipandi once more sighted it on the Vallanaadu Blackbuck Sanctuary in Thoothukudi district on November 5, 2022.

“After the first record in Trincomalee, no one spotted the moth until we saw it in 2020 in India. There is deficient data about the history of this species. We could see only one moth on all these occasions and not as a pair and hence we did not try to do genitalia dissection to study it further,” stated Mr. Thalavaipandi.

On the importance of the recognizing of Mimeusemia ceylonica in Tirunelveli and Thoothukudi districts, Mr. Thalavaipandi stated it was “testimony to the rich biodiversity of this region”.

“We have recorded around 300 moth species in ATREE premises near the Manimuthar Dam alone and hence there should be numerous moth species around us. Governments should encourage studies on moths as there are very few studies on them in comparison to species such as butterflies,” he says.