National Mission on Himalayan Studies (NMHS) HIMALAYAN RESEARCH FELLOWSHIP (PRO FORMA FOR THE ANNUAL PROGRESS REPORT) [Reporting Period: from 1st April, 2019 to 31st March, 2020]

Kindly fill the NMHS Fellowship Annual Progress Report segregated into the following 7 segments, as applicable to the NMHS Fellowship nature and outcomes.

1. Fellowship Grant Information and Other Details

2. Fellowship Description at Himalayan Research Associates (H-RAs) Level

3. Fellowship Description at Himalayan Junior Research Associates (H-JRFs) Level

4. Fellowship Description at Institutional/ University Level

5. Fellowship Concluding Remarks/ Annual Summary

6. Specific Research Question(s) Addressed with Succinct Answer(s)

7. Any other information

Please let us know in case of any query at: [email protected]

PRO FORMA NMHS-Fellowship Annual Progress Report (APR)

1. Fellowship Grant Information and Other Details

NMHS Fellowship Grant ID: HSF2015-16_I003

Name of the Institution/ University: Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata

No. of Himalayan Research/Project Associates: 03

No. of Himalayan Junior Research/Project Fellows: 09

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2. Fellowship Description at H-RA Level

Himalayan Research Associates (H-RAs)

H-RAs Profile Description:

S. Date of Name of the PI and Name of RA Research Title Qualification No. Joining Designation

1. Dr. Abesh Kumar Sanyal 03.06.2016 (Insecta) as Dr. Kailash Chandra, Ph.D. Potential Indicator-Taxa for Director Tracking Climate Change in the Indian Himalayan Landscape 2. Dr. Angshuman Raha 03.06.2016 Lepidoptera (Insecta) as Dr. Kailash Chandra, Ph.D. Potential Indicator-Taxa for Director Tracking Climate Change in the Indian Himalayan Landscape 3. Dr. John Caleb T.D. 01.03.2017 Lepidoptera (Insecta) as Dr. Kailash Chandra, Ph.D. Potential Indicator-Taxa for Director Tracking Climate Change in the Indian Himalayan Landscape

Progress Brief (to be filled for each H-RA in separate row):

Researc h/ RA Addressed Research Objective(s) Achievements Experim No. Deliverables ental Work*

1. • Number of Long- • Identification of • Identification: In the current reporting Details Term sites for LTEM. period, 134 species of were further provide Ecological/Environm • Habitat-suitability identified, thus total number of d in ental Monitoring mapping of species currently identified becomes 1274, separate (LTEM) sites threatened which includes 88 species recorded for the establishment Himalayan first time from India. descripti • Status & Distribution • Species Compilation: Identified species ve file of Threatened Apollo • Conservation table were prepared including information and other Parnassini frameworks on Material Examined (number of butterflies development for specimens studied/individuals recorded Himalayan from each LTM plot in different Landscapes Lepidoptera sampled), Distribution within Indian States and Global countries. • Data Compilation & Analysis: Species assemblages of and moth of different Protected Areas/Landscapes sampled through LTEM plots were analyzed to see (i) Assemblage composition of major families & Subfamilies, (ii) Altitudinal distribution of different families, (iii) Relative Abundance of major families in different Habitat/Forest types identified, (iv) Biogeographic affinities of the total assemblage having percentage affinities with different Realms/Zones/Provinces • Book Compilation: Entire species inventory so far made through LTEM plots in different landscapes were compiled in the

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form of a major book titled “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots” which include: (i) A brief Overview of Himalayan Lepidoptera Monitoring, (ii) Sampling design & Methodology, (iii) Assemblages of selected Protected Areas, (iv) Synthesis highlighting assemblage pattern & biogeographic affinities of sampled Himalayan Lepidoptera, (v) Complete Species List, (vi) Complete species Plates, depicting life-size images of each species with dorsal and ventral surfaces. • Filed Sampling: One field tour was undertaken in Kangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim (November-December, 2019). Altogether, 18 Long Term Ecological Monitoring (LTEM) Plots were established spanning altitudinal zone of 800 m to 3000m. Light Traps were performed in each plot for consecutive two nights. Abundance data was collected along with associated environmental variables. Total 4351 specimens of moths were collected and currently being processed for taxonomic identification. 55 butterfly transects were also undertaken recording 265 individuals in different habitat and altitudinal zones. • Additional/Ongoing Work: (i) Pinning, Stretching & Identification of Sikkim collection, (ii) Host Plant record compilation of Himalayan Lepidoptera from Global Database and identification of prominent species in that particular landscape under the compiled genera/family of plants, (iii) Analyzing specific ecological attributes within Himalayan Ecosystems involving most species-rich genera selected from our collection under prominent families. 2 • Monitoring surveys • Predictive • Identification: In the current reporting Details in historical species period, other than looking after the overall provide collection localities distribution of moths collected from IHR, d in • Climate-Envelope modelling for identification of species of the families separate modelling & future climatic Sphingidae, and Distribution mapping scenario were intensively carried out. Thus, the total descripti for responses to • Landscape level species richness for these families from IHR ve file changing climate conservation tallied to: Sphingidae: 63 species in 34 approach of genera of 4 subfamiles; Notodontidae: 81 Himalayan species in 53 genera of 9 subfamilies; Lepidoptera Nolidae: 35 species in 22 genera of 6 through subfamilies. Indicator taxa • New species & New records: Two new and awareness species, Donda unispinosa Bandyopadhyay, generation Raha & Chandra, 2019 (Noctuidae) and Nerice (Nerice) mishmiensis Mazumder, Raha, Chandra & Schintlmeister, 2020 (Notodontidae) were described. 3 species of Notodontidae were reported new to Indian moth fauna. • Data Compilation & Analysis: Additional

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distribution data for 103 specimens belonging to 40 species of Notodontidae collected from the primary sampling were updated. Thus, revealing several ecologically significant range extensions. • Addition of another 5 species and 1 subspecies to the previous catalogue by reviewing literature, thus, making the total number of Indian Notodontidae to 247 species (including nominotypical subspecies) and 15 subspecies under 116 genera of 10 subfamilies. • 3 species previously known to occur below 2000 m showed unusual altitudinal record around 3000 m. • Relative Abundance of major Notodontid genera in different altitude bands and Habitat/Forest types assessed. • Book Compilation: Overall editing, analyses and concept designing of a major book titled “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots” on the generation of robust Lepidoptera database for future climate monitoring programs. • Additional/Ongoing Work: i) Identification of backlog collections from primary samplings. ii) Indicator Species Analysis with the total identified species of IHR from primary field samplings for identifying multi-taxon predictor set for future habitat monitoring programs. iii) Future distribution modelling of Notodontidae pest species of genera Clostera and Gazalina. 3. • Molecular • DNA Barcode • DNA isolation was performed for 902 Details Phylogenetic work database specimens and PCR reactions were carried provide through DNA generation for out for 687 samples. 274 full length and good d in Barcoding to resolve future molecular quality sequences were obtained while the separate species complexes and phylogenetic rest await taxon name tagging before final research on processing. descripti Himalayan • The developed sequences were submitted to ve file Lepidoptera BOLD database under the project ‘Lepidoptera of Indian Himalayas’ for acquiring unique BOLD-IDs. • The samples collected for the first time from Sikkim are being processed for DNA extraction.

*Experimental work giving full details (in separate sheet, within 300 words) of experimental set up, methods adopted, data collected supported by necessary table, charts, diagrams & photographs. Note: Data, table and figures may be attached as separate source file (.docx, .xls, jpg, .jpeg, .png, .shp, etc. ).

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3. Fellowship Description at H-JRF Level Himalayan Junior Research Project Fellows (H-JRFs)

H-JRFs Profile Description: S. No. Name of JRF Date of Joining Name of the PI Qualification

1. Mohd. Ali 29.09.2016 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

2. Kaushik Mallick 06.06.2016 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

3. Uttaran Bandyopadhyay 14.06.2016 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

4. Rushati Dey 08.12.2017 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

5. Kamalika Bhattacharyya 14.06.2017 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

6. Subrata Gayen 14.06.2017 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

7. Gaurab Nandi Das 14.06.2016 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

8. Moumita Das 08.12.2017 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

9. Rahul Ranjan 24.02.2017 Dr. Kailash Chandra, Director M.Sc.

Progress Brief (to be filled for each JRF in separate row): Research/ JRF Research Objectives Deliverable Achievements Experimental No. Work*

1. • To investigate the • Generation of • Overall Fieldwork: During current Details differential scientific Reporting Period, three field surveys were provided in processes evidences in undertaken: separate influencing the the form of i. Ladakh, J&K: July-August, 2019 descriptive distribution pattern reports on ii. SNP, WB: October-November, 2019 of Lepidoptera Lepidopteran iii. KNP, Sikkim, November-December, file assemblages (moths diversity of 2019 and butterflies) of HNP • Field Sampling in Ladakh: 21 butterfly Hemis National Park • Robust data transects and 22 Light Traps were (HNP), Jammu & sets. performed in altitudinal range 2700m- Kashmir. • Thesis on the 5300m, resulting in 832 individuals of • Generation of subject area butterflies and 501 individuals of moth. All robust data sets the samples were pinned, stretched and generated through curated. Around 450 Leg samples were ecological collected for barcoding work. monitoring at • 64 quadrats for vegetation sampling were habitat level undertaken taking data for shrub, herb and tree layers along with human disturbance data. Soil samples were also collected from these vegetation plots. Herbarium sheet was prepared for plant identification. • Field sampling in Central Himalaya: 38 Butterfly transects were undertaken in Kangchedzongha Biosphere Reserve in Sikkim recording 265 individuals, whereas, 35 transects were undertaken in Singalila NP, WB recording 72 individuals. Additionally, 9 light traps were performed in SNP recording 584 individuals of moths. • Overall Lepidoptera Richness of Ladakh: This year fieldwork added 5 species of NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 5

butterflies to the already compiled list which currently stands as 68 species. Taxonomic identification along with genitalia dissection is currently under process for Pyrgus (Hesperiidae), Agriades, Alpherakya, Pamiria, Polymmatus, Pseudophilotes (Lycaenidae), Argynnis, Aulocera, Boloria, Hyponephele, Karanasa, Lasiommata, Nymphalis, Paralassa, Polygonia, Pseudochazara, Vanessa (), Parnassius, Papilio (Papilionidae), Baltia, , Euchloe, Gonepteryx, Pieris, Pontia (). Overall dataset is being processed for further analysis. • Distribution Modelling of Apollo: Secondary data entry for 19 species/subspecies of Apollo were completed with 2275 entries along with their geo-coordinates, compiled from more than 35 literature. • Participated and presented in 6th Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium, held in Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata September, 2019. • Participated and presented work in “3rd Himalayan Researchers consortium, 2019”, Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun. 2. • To investigate the • Generation of • Field Sampling: During current Reporting Details differential scientific Period, one field survey was undertaken at provided in processes evidences in Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in separate influencing the the form of September to November and about 1800 descriptive Lepidoptera reports on moth specimens were collected from 21 diversity of Great Lepidopteran sampling sites ranging from 1500m to file Himalayan National diversity of 3600m. Vegetation sampling through Park (GHNP) GHNP. nested quadrat method was carried out • Generation of • Robust data for every sampling site. Also, different robust datasets sets. weather data were also recorded during generated through • Thesis on the survey. ecological subject area. • A total of 31 butterfly transects were monitoring at carried out in this survey, from which, habitat level around 2793 individuals belonging to 86 Generation of species of butterflies were observed. scientific evidences • Moth Richness of GHNP: Total 237 species of moths under 178 genera belonging to 45 subfamilies of 16 families belonging to 8 superfamilies were recorded during current course of study. • Among GHNP assemblage, 10 species were reported for the first time from India and another 68 species were reported for the first time from North-Western Himalaya. • Taxonomy of Himalayan Geometridae: A total of 342 species belonging to 166 genera were identified from Indian Himalayan Region. Detailed taxonomic study of cryptic and speciose genera like Alcis, Arichana, Biston, Chorodna, Dalima, Hypomecis, Odontopera, Ourapteryx, Sirinopteryx, Ecliptopera, Electrophaes and Photoscotosia are being conducted to resolve the taxonomic complexities.

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• Taxonomic Revision of genus Psyra: Taxonomic revision with detailed genitalia study of genus Psyra Walker, 1860 (Geometridae: ) were undertaken including description of two new species and three new records to India. • Book Compilation: Material examined of all the identified moth species, their distribution update, specimen photography editing and plate preparation was undertaken for the book “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots”. 3. • To investigate how • Generation of • Field Sampling in AWLS: Field survey at Details diverse are the scientific AWLS in October-November, 2019 was provided in Lepidopteran evidences in undertaken. Light traps and vegetation separate assemblages in the form of Nested Quadrats were undertaken in 9 descriptive Askot Wildlife reports on selected localities. 256 individuals of Sanctuary (AWLS), Lepidopteran moths were collected. 65 individuals of file Uttarakhand. diversity of butterflies were counted in 3 transects. • Generation of AWLS. • Vegetation data was collected in 1000- robust datasets • Robust data 2100m counting tree, herb and shrub generated through sets species in 10m2 quadrat. ecological • Thesis on the • Moth Richness of AWLS: The collected monitoring at subject area specimens till now represented about 450 habitat level morpho-species, among which 364 species consisting 265 genera of 22 families have been identified up to species level through morpho-taxonomy. • The identified species list includes 13 species of moths recorded for the first time from AWLS. • Ecological Aspects of Phlogophora: Habitat preference, seasonal abundance and climatic suitability of genus Phlogophora in Indian Himalaya was worked out with 13 species, 3 among which are being reported for the first time from India. • Taxonomic Work on Himalayan Noctuidae: Taxonomic revisionary work is under process involving ecologically and economically important Himalayan Noctuidae genera like Xestia, Acronicta, Apamea, Agrotis reporting new species and new records to the country • Book Compilation: Specimen photography editing and plate preparation for the book “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots”, along with contributing 5 chapters. • Attended the 6th Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium, held at Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. 4. • To investigate the • Generation of • Field Sampling in KNP, Sikkim: Field Details differential scientific survey at KBR was undertaken in provided in processes evidences in November-December 2019, performing separate influencing the the form of light traps in 15 sites. Out of 4351 descriptive Lepidoptera reports on Lepidoptera samples collected, on-field leg diversity of Lepidopteran extraction was done for 350 moths. file

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Kangchendzongha diversity of • DNA Barcoding: 255 butterfly specimens Biosphere Reserve KBR. and 350 moth specimens from Ladakh (KBR), Sikkim • Robust data were processed for DNA extraction. • Generation of sets • Curation and alignment of 500 generated robust data sets • Thesis on the sequences obtained from morphologically generated through subject area identified specimens from SNP and DDBR ecological • Similarity search of the representative monitoring at barcode sequences with data available habitat level. from global database to develop Phylogenetic tree. • 13 generated COI sequences of 6 morphologically identified Phlogophora species were novel submission in the GenBank database. These generated sequences were aligned against 93 available COI sequences of Phlogophora and Euplexia retrieved from NCBI and BOLD to study the intra and interspecific divergence for solving crypticism and taxonomic ambiguity between these genera. • Distribution Modelling: Habitat suitability modelling under current climatic scenario was done for Genus Phlogophora with primary sampling locations of 13 Himalayan species. • MAXENT modelling for current habitat and predictive future habitat suitability was done for threatened Apollo butterfly Parnassius epaphus with 86 unique locations compiled from secondary literature. • Habitat suitability under both current and future climatic condition were done with 21 unique locations, both primary and secondary, for one of the commonest Notodontidae pest Gazalina apsara, which is a prominent Oak-defoliator in Himalayan ecosystems. • Book Compilation: Distribution database were prepared for 484 Himalayan butterflies identified for the book “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots”, along with specimen photography editing. • Participated and presented work in “3rd Himalayan Researchers consortium, 2019”, Dehradun. 5. • To investigate the • Generation of • Field survey & Specimen Processing: During Details differential scientific Current Reporting Period, one field Survey provided in processes evidences in was conducted during October-November separate influencing the the form of 2019 in SNP & NVNP. Moreover, processing descriptive Lepidoptera reports on and curation of specimens from previous diversity of Singalila Lepidoptera surveys in SNP & NVNP were undertaken. file National Park diversity of • Moth Richness of SNP/NVNP: 562 species (SNP)/Neora Valley KBR. and 150 morphospecies of moths belonging National Park • Robust data to 23 families were identified during the (NVNP), West sets. entire study period from SNP & NVNP. Bengal • Thesis on the • 19 species were recorded for first time from • Generation of subject area. India robust datasets • Ecological Analysis: Following major

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generated through ecological trends were analyzed for entire ecological SNP/NVNP moth data: (i) Species monitoring at assemblage composition, (ii) Association of habitat level species richness and elevation, (iii) Effect of vegetation composition and environmental parameters on species diversity, (iv) Seasonal variation in species diversity, (v) Species association with habitat type. • Taxonomic Review of genus Diphtherocome: Taxonomic revision of Noctuidae genus Diphtherocome is under process, which includes 10 species from Indian Himalaya with 4 new records to the country and 1 new species • Taxonomic Review & Ecological Studies of Family : Taxonomic and ecological review of Himalayan Saturniidae is under process which includes 74 species, focusing on their biogeographic affinities and altitudinal-habitat specificities 6. • To investigate the • Generation of • Moth Richness of DDBR: Currently 356 Details differential scientific species of moths are identified from DDBR provided in processes evidences in (75 species have been added during separate influencing the the form of current reporting period) including 24 descriptive distribution pattern reports on species first-time reported from Indian of Lepidoptera Lepidoptera mainland. file assemblages (moths diversity of • Diversity and Distribution pattern of and butterflies) DDBR. eastern Himalayan moths were analyzed, from Dihang-Dibang • Robust data which indicated the East Himalayan Biosphere reserve sets. Subtropical Wet Evergreen Forest showed (DDBR), Arunachal • Thesis on the highest moth diversity. Pradesh. subject area. • Morphometry & Colouration: • Generation of Morphometric data of Wing, head, thorax, robust datasets abdomen, compound eye, Proboscis of generated through selected families collected from entire long-term Himalayan landscapes is synthesized and is ecological currently under process of analysis. monitoring at Morphomeric measurements were taken habitat level. for Sphingidae, Saturniidae, Gaurena (Drepanidae), Abraxas, Psyra (Geometridae). • Proportional changes in light and dark colours on wing surface were investigated along altitudinal gradient for Geometridae genus from photographs of Stretched Specimens in TinEye Colour Extraction Software Package. • Co-occurrence Pattern: Co-Occurrence Model through Non-Random Pairwise Species Association was run in Package COOCUR in R platform with 283 identified species from DDBR, which indicated Positive Co-occurrence between 2 Saturniidae species, while most species were associated randomly. • Abstract submitted and accepted for “6th Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium” held in Zoological Survey of India, September 2019, Kolkata. • Participated and presented work in “5th Himalayan Researchers consortium, 2019”, Dehradun and achieved 1st prize and best

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presentation award from NMHS. 7. • To investigate the • Generation of • Field Sampling: Butterfly Sampling was Details differential scientific undertaken in Great Himalayan National provided in processes evidences in Park (September-October, 2019) during separate influencing the the form of current reporting period: 31 transects with descriptive distribution pattern reports on a total of 2793 individuals representing six of Lepidoptera Lepidoptera families. file assemblages (moths diversity of • Database Preparation of Himalayan and butterflies) DDBR. Butterflies: Robust dataset of all the from Dihang-Dibang • Robust data identified species of butterflies collected Biosphere reserve sets. through primary sampling in 5 Himalayan (DDBR), Arunachal • Thesis on the provinces (currently, 484 species of Pradesh. subject area. butterflies have been identified belonging • Generation of to 222 genera of 29 subfamilies under 6 robust datasets families, where addition of 10 species from generated through the previous year report) from all over long-term Himalaya were prepared along with their ecological updated distribution. monitoring at • Ecological Trend Analysis: Data on habitat level. assemblage composition, altitudinal distribution, habitat-wise abundance pattern and biogeographic affinities were analyzed and presented for 6 selected Protected Areas • Book Compilation: Live and specimen photographs of all the 484 species of identified butterflies were compiled into Plates for the book “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots” • Taxonomy of Himalayan Butterflies: Genitalia structure with detail morpho- taxonomic study of cryptic butterfly genera, especially from Ladakh mountains are currently under process: Paralasa, Hyponephele, Karanasa, Pontia, Polyommatus, Albulina. • In detail morphological taxonomy through genitalia dissection was undertaken for genus , especially Sura-group from Indian Himalaya. • A detailed androconia morphometric study was undertaken through microscopic slide preparation for cryptic group/subgroup of genus Lethe, viz. Sura-subgroup, Jalaurida subgroup. • Scanning Electron Microscope photography has been carried out for selective group of genus Lethe. • New & rare butterflies of Arunachal Pradesh: 8 rare and elusive species/subspecies of butterflies were recorded from Namdapha National Park, which are being reported for the first time from Eastern Himalayan landscape of Arunachal Pradesh, along with, recording of 3 species after the gap of more than a century. 8. • Study of Molecular • Generation of • DNA Barcoding of Himalayan Details Taxonomy of DNA barcode Lepidoptera: DNA isolation was done from provided in Himalayan data of extracted leg specimens of Himalayan separate Lepidoptera Lepidoptera Lepidoptera using organic phase descriptive

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from Indian extraction/silica column kit method for file Himalayas 782 specimens. • 259 full length sequences has been generated and being processed for further analysis • The developed sequences were submitted to BOLD database under the project ‘Lepidoptera of Indian Himalayas’ for acquiring unique BOLD-IDs. • Genetic divergence was studied within and between families Geometridae, Erebidae, Crambidae, Noctuidea and Bombycoidea • Neighbour-joining Phylogenetic tree was constructed with all the generated sequences 9. • Morphology based • Report on • Field Survey: Participated in filed sampling Details taxonomy status of in Kangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, provided in Morpho Sikkim separate taxonomy • Morpho-Taxonomic Work: 228 specimens descriptive have been identified under the family Pyralidae, Crambidae, Nolidae, file Endromidae and Erebidae. • Genitalia photography were undertaken of all the dissected species under genus Abraxas (Geometridae). • One new species under genus Mustilizans Yang, 1995 of the family Endromidae was published collected from the Dihang Dibang Biosphere Reserve. • Checklist of Indian Pyralidae has been completed. *Experimental work giving full details (in separate sheet, within 300 words) of experimental set up, methods adopted, data collected supported by necessary table, charts, diagrams & photographs. Note: Data, table and figures may be attached as separate source file (.docx, .xls, jpg, .jpeg, .png, .shp, etc. ).

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4. Fellowship Description at Institutional/ University Level

Annual Deliverables/ Outputs (during the reporting year)

S. No. Deliverables/ Parameters No. Description No. of Research Publications 1. (monograph/ articles/ peer-reviewed 16 Details provided in separate descriptive file articles): 2. No. of Data Sets generated: 02 Details provided in separate descriptive file No. of Conferences/ Workshops 3. 02 Details provided in separate descriptive file attended: 4. No. of Sites/ Study Area Covered: 06 Details provided in separate descriptive file 5. No. of Best Practices suitable for IHR: NA NA 6. New Observations/ Innovations 52 Details provided in separate descriptive file

5. Fellowship Concluding Remarks/ Annual Summary

Conclusions summarizing the achievements and indication of remaining work (within 300 words): Achievements: • Compilation of entire database (collected so far) in the form of Major Book: Most significant achievement of current year was to compile the entire species information so far identified and collected from Long-Term Monitoring Plots sampled in all the biogeographic provinces of Indian Himalaya in the form of a major book titled “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots”. The focus of the compilation was to create a taxonomically sound species database (484 species of butterflies & 1274 species of moths) with their abundance pattern, distribution range within and outside India and detailed bionomy including flight period, temperature-humidity range and associated habitats. Life-size habitus photographs of all species depicting both upper and under side of the wings are provided. Furthermore, richness patterns in every landscape along different altitudinal zones and vegetation types are outlined with notes on their biogeographic affinities. Furthermore, abundant and rare as well as restricted-range species of butterflies and moths of every altitudinal zone in each landscape is identified, so that indicator as well as threatened species can be easily selected for future monitoring programs. • DNA Barcoding of Himalayan Lepidoptera: Full length sequences were generated from 538 Lepidoptera specimens were obtained in current period, which were submitted to BOLD database. Evolutionary history was inferred using the Neighbour-Joining method and evolutionary distances were computed. Barcode Index Number (BIN) based estimation was also performed to analyze the putative extant morphospecies count. • Distribution Modelling & Future Habitat Projection of selected species: Potential and Predictive future Habitat Distribution Modelling was performed for Threatened butterfly genus Parnassius and economically important Notodontidae genus Gazalina, Noctuid genus Phlogophora. Our analysis suggested that species will both loose and gain in future scenarios. • Sampling in Sikkim: As after three years of repeated application, the permission for sampling in Sikkim was finally issued by Sikkim Forest Department in June, 2019, the research team undertook sampling survey in Kangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve and established 18 Long Term Ecological Monitoring (LTEM) Plots spanning altitudinal zone of 800 m to 3000m. Line transects and Light Traps resulted in 265 individuals of butterflies and 4351 specimens of moths which are currently being processed for taxonomic identification. Initial identification revealed plenty of new records to the country as well as reporting of several species after gap of century. • Species Addition to Indian Faunal List: The study added 1 butterfly species, Euaspa motokii (Lycaenidae) to the country record. Chaetoprocta odata peilei was reported from Great Himalayan NP, Himachal Pradesh as novel to North-West Himalaya being known from Uttarakhand till date, while Lethe dura gammiei was encountered from mid elevation range in Askot WLS far from its known region Central to Eastern Himalaya and Garo-Khasi Hills. We also reported of 88 species of moths as novel to

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Indian fauna, among which Noctuidae was the most dominant with 32 species, followed by 23 species of Geometridae and 11 species of Erebidae. Among other families, 5 species of Drepanidae, 3 species of Notodontidae, 2 species each of Thyrididae, Lasiocampidae and , and 1 species each of Cossidae, Pyralidae, Eupterotidae, Endromidae, Saturniidae, Epicopeiidae, Uraniidae and Nolidae was novel addition to Indian moth fauna. • Description of New Species: In the current reporting period 4 species have been described as “New to Science” which are as follows: 1. Donda, unispinosa Bandyopadhyay, Raha & Chandra, 2019 (Family Noctuidae: Subfamily Pantheinae) recorded from AWLS, published in the journal Entomological News; 2. Mustilizans zolotuhini sp. nov. (Endromidae) is described from Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve; 3. Neadeloides nubilus Singh, Ranjan & Singh (Crambidae) from Neora Valley NP; 4. Nerice (Nerice) mishmiensis Mazumder, Raha, Chandra & Schintlmeister, 2020 (Notodontidae) from Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve Remaining works: • Repeat/Pre-Monsoon Sampling: As majority of the sampling gradients chosen so far are in remote/inaccessible areas to target natural and representative vegetation cover of the area, majority of the sampling plots lack repeat sampling which is essential for any meaningful analysis of diversity and abundance pattern. The problem is most prominent in DDBR, AWLS as well as in Sikkim, where so far only single sampling session have been undergone. As majority of the permanent plots were sampled in post-monsoon season, one pre-monsoon sampling needs to be achieved in majority of the study areas. • Collection of Vegetation Data: As vegetation composition as well as structure influence the Lepidopteran diversity and richness pattern in most significant way, this data is yet to be collected uniformly throughout the sampling gradients in every landscape. As collecting data on tree/shrub/herb layers of all the sampling plots needs involvement of large team which was not possible until today as all the individual researchers were engaged to collect faunal data In their respective landscapes, this vegetation data collection is planned to be achieved in pre-monsoon session of current year. • Identification of Remaining Samples: There are many cryptic as well as complicated group of taxa, majorly from DDBR and Ladakh, which require in-depth taxonomic treatment supported by molecular data for identification confirmation. Moreover, specimens collected from Sikkim during single field session in November-December, 2019 is under processing of stretching and curation, and is due for identification.

6. Specific Research Question(s) Addressed with Succinct Answer(s)

Research Questions S. No. Succinct Answers (within 150-200 words) Addressed 1. The preliminary data trend revealed both genus and species richness gradually increased from West to East axis, both in case of butterflies and moths. Richness was recorded highest in Western Himalaya in case of moths, whereas, for butterflies Eastern Himalaya was certainly the richness hotspot. Altitudinal stratification of major families when compared between western and eastern sector, mean How Himalayan abundance was always in higher altitude in Western Himalaya for lepidopteran diversity is both butterflies and moths. Eastern Himalayan Wet Temperate structured among Forest spanning in the mid to high altitude areas of Central and different biogeographic eastern Himalaya was most species-rich, while, Tropical Wet provinces/habitat/Forest Evergreen Forest in Namdapha NP were one of the most unique Types? habitats sampled in the entire landscape, whereas, exceptionally high diversity of unique species especially Noctuids was recorded above 4000 m in Alpine Pastures of Western Himalaya. Analysis of Biogeographic affinities among assemblages of different Biogeographic Provinces revealed, proportion of Palearctic and Oriental species interchanges as we move across west to east axis. 2. What biotic-abiotic Although the team is yet to achieve collection of all the habitat level

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factors affect the diversity data pertaining to disturbance and vegetation, current data analysis most significantly? involving widely distributed species of Himalayan Lepidoptera revealed that Annual Precipitation, Annual Mean Temperature and Temperature Annual Range were among the most influential abiotic variables governing richness and abundance. Although annual precipitation governs availability and seasonal partitioning of food resources, Precipitation of Driest Quarter and Precipitation of Wettest months governed abundance more meaningfully. Altitude being the key governors of diversity among topographic variables, Slope and Hillshade were other major biotic variables regulating species richness and composition. Vegetation structure, more specifically herb and shrub density and canopy cover influence the assemblage composition, rather than diversity and richness. 3. Future distribution Compilation of past database and present occurrence records scenario in Projected generated through primary sampling gave us a unique opportunity Climatic conditions for key to do habitat-Suitability modelling of Himalayan Lepidoptera under Lepidopteran species: present and future climatic conditions, which was so far impossible How species will lose or to predict because of very few species occurrence points. Our gain in Changing Climate? analysis suggested that species will both loose and gain in future scenarios. Significant loss of habitable areas was detected for Notodontidae species Gazalino opsoro which will lose as much as 91% habitable area in 2050 under RCP 4.5. The species is predicted to be constricted to minor areas of Himachal and Arunachal Pradesh. On contrary, butterfly genus Pornossius revealed significant gain in future projected habitable area, with all the trans-Himalayan habitats becoming suitable for the species, whereas they are currently restricted to the alpine habitats of Ladakh and Western Himalaya. May be rising temperature will increase the restricted window of activity of the species, or prolonged snow-free period resulting in higher abundance of food plants/nectaring plants, which will in turn positively influence the species'survival probability. 4. How successful is DNA Our analysis of both morpho and molecular data regarding the barcoding to complement cryptic specie group revealed that at least 85% species can be Traditional Taxonomy in identified through morpho-taxonomic approach, beyond which, case of Himalayan molecular data is essential to correctly reveal the cryptic species Lepidoptera? hidden in the population. This was exemplified most prominently in case of genus Abraxas (Geometridae), where PTP species delimitation method indicated presence of three cryptic species within the clade of morphologically identified clade of A. mortaria. Success of molecular technique was also crucial to demarcate between Noctuidae tribe Phlogophorini, where morphological grouping failed to distinguish between genus Phlogophora and Euplexia, where molecular data showed divergence of 6.6% between them. Ourapteryx, Loepa, Pitama, Xestia were few other genera where molecular data indicated better species delimitation than morpho-taxonomv.

Dr. Kailash Chandrao PI Director, Zoological Survey of India

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Descriptive files for Table No. 2 (Fellowship Description at H-RA Level) Table No. 3 (Fellowship Description at H-JPF/H-SPF Level) and Table No. 4 (Fellowship Description at Institution Level)

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 15

Descriptive File at H-RA Level (Table No. 2) Descriptive File for H-RA 1: Dr. Abesh Kumar Sanyal

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: Long-Term Ecological/Environmental Monitoring (LTEM) sites were established across 6 Himalayan States. In the current reporting period, 18 LTEM sites were identified and established in Kangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim, totaling to 193 sites. Lepidoptera specimens were sampled from various sampling areas based on elevation, vegetation type and land use practices for the study of diversity and distributional pattern. Two or three sampling sites were chosen in each habitat for encountering different species. Light Trap sites, for moths specifically, were strategically chosen, so that the immediate vicinity of the trap site guarded the moths from harsh weather conditions, such as, wind or rain, and provided maximum possible light catchment area in case of light trapping. The sampling strategy for the study was Stratified Random sampling method. For this, a GRADSECT was designed, where random sites were selected at every 200m vertical distance along with a transect ranging from lowest to highest altitude. Geographic coordinates of the sampling sites were recorded using GARMIN Oregon-550 GPS device which were further used for generating maps. Environmental parameters such as temperature, humidity level and wind speed, were recorded using Kestrel 3000 Weather Meter. Identification of collected Lepidopteran samples were undertaken following standard taxonomic procedure and consulting all available literature.

Overall Lepidoptera Richness of Himalayan LTEM Plots Overall sampling effort in total 175 LTEM plots across 7 landscapes in IHR encountered 10,092 individuals of Lepidoptera over the course of 2016-2018, in a staggering altitudinal gradient, starting as low as 256 m in Tropical Wet Evergreen Forest of Namdapha NP to 5061 m in Alpine Pasture landscape of Ladakh Trans- Himalaya, and across a huge variety of 30 different vegetation types. A total of, 484 species of butterflies were recorded under 222 genera representing 29 subfamilies under 6 families. Recorded richness represented almost 48% of Himalayan species, 32% of Indian fauna, while 2.5% of total global butterfly fauna. The study documented 1,274 of moth species under 704 genera representing 89 subfamilies, 25 families and 12 Superfamilies, which was around 31% of total Himalayan fauna and approximately 13% of total Indian moth fauna. The preliminary data trend revealed both genus and species richness gradually increased from West to East axis, both in case of butterflies and moths. Richness was recorded highest in Western Himalaya in case of moths, whereas, for butterflies Eastern Himalaya was certainly the richness hotspot. LTEM Plots established across Indian Himalaya shown on Digital Elevation Map

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BUTTERFLY MOTH

No. of Genera No. of Species No. of Genera No. of Species Trans Himalaya 32 51 44 58 North-Western Himalaya 42 62 178 237 Western Himalaya 108 211 391 578 Central Himalaya 54 78 315 464 Eastern Himalaya 176 354 395 566 Number of genera and species of Butterfly and Moths from different Biogeographic Provinces

Altitudinal Distribution of major Lepidopteran Families Complete altitudinal gradient sampled across Himalayan Biogeographic Provinces gave us a unique opportunity to see the altitudinal distribution pattern among major Lepidopteran families sampled. For all major families of butterflies and moths in Himalayan gradient, distribution was always high in Western Sector, the differences more significant in case of butterfly families. Mean species abundance of the family Hesperiidae was around 1800 m in Western Himalaya, while it was around only 400 m in Central and Eastern Himalaya. The family was recorded up to 3200 m in Western Himalaya, while it was restricted only up to 1600 m in Central and Eastern sector. Mean abundance of Geometridae varied almost by 800 m between western and eastern extreme, while for Erebidae abundance ranges was almost similar in both sectors, slightly higher in central and eastern part, a Comparison of Altitudinal Distribution of Dominant Families of Butterflies & rather peculiar finding, Moths from Western, Central and Eastern Himalaya which was basically due to high abundance of Arctiinae although the Central Himalayan gradient. Distribution pattern of Noctuidae was comparatively higher than other families in both sectors, its upper range of major species distribution was at 3200 m in Western Himalaya, while it was at around 2350 m in Eastern and Central Himalaya.

Richness Pattern in different Himalayan Biogeographic Provinces Analysis of Biogeographic affinities among assemblages of different Biogeographic Provinces revealed, proportion of Palearctic and Oriental species interchanges as we move across west to east axis. While

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 17 affinities of assemblage of Ladakh and GHNP butterflies were almost 100% Palearctic, proportion of Oriental affinity was lowest in case of Trans-Himalayan assemblage, while it increased to almost 75% in case of Western Himalayan 100.00 assemblage. In Western 80.00 Himalayan butterfly 60.00 40.00 assemblage, proportion of 20.00 Palearctic and Oriental species

0.00 were almost equal, around

2C

1B 2B

1A 2A

2D 80%, affinities for Palearctic

Coast

S Arid S Island

Desert region started to decrease

G Plain G

D Penin D

NE H&V NE

Oceania

Oriental

Nearctic

WGhats

Ethiopian Palearctic

Australian significantly in Central Neotropical Himalayan assemblage. In case Trans Him. Provinces Indian Biogeographic Zones Zoogeographic Realms of moths, the fluctuations Him between Palearctic and 100.00 Oriental affinities showed 80.00 almost similar trend, with 60.00 40.00 Trans-Himalayan assemblage 20.00 being 84% Palearctic, the

0.00 percentage getting reduced to

2C

1B 2B

1A 2A

2D around 40% for Eastern

Coast

S Arid S

Island Desert

G Plain G Himalayan assemblage. Entire

D Penin D

NE H&V NE

Oceania

Oriental

Nearctic

WGhats

Ethiopian Palearctic

Australian assemblage was of purely Neotropical Oriental origin except Trans- Trans Him. Indian Biogeographic Zones Zoogeographic Realms Him. Provinces Himalaya, which shares only 34% Oriental species. Among Biogeographic affinities (% representation) of total Himalayan Butterflies & other major realms, Australian Moths fauna had minor presence especially in case of Central Himalayan assemblage with a share of 26% species. The sampled butterfly assemblage from entire Himalayan length and breadth, species with Oriental affinities dominated, while a significant percentage was of Palearctic origin (60%). Only about 5% species were distributed up to Australian region. Among Indian Biogeographic Provinces, 76% species were shared with North-Eastern Hills & Valleys, 36% species were commonly occurring in Gangetic Plains. Around 94% species among sampled moth assemblage was of Oriental origin, whereas, around 57.5% species had affinities for Palearctic region. 19% species were distributed up to Australian region. Nearly 56% species among Himalayan moths sampled were shared with North-Eastern Hills & Valleys.

Species of Special Significance: About 8 species of moths which were restricted to specialized habitat of Alpine Pastures over 3500 m altitudinal zone can be regarded as most vulnerable to climate-change driven range extinction, among them: 2 species of Neoris (Saturniidae), 2 species of genus Hermonassa and 1 species each of Phlogophora, Trachea, Paraxestia (Noctuidae) and Preparctia were notable. Furthermore, few species recorded with huge differences between past and present altitudinal envelope like Trachea auriplena, Diphtherocome fasciata, Arhopala ganesa ganesa, Cyrestis thyodamas ganescha have shown significance high range extension, whereas, Baltia butleri butleri, Colias ladakensis, Euchloe daphalis showed significance range contraction. Few species, majorly active agricultural pest, Pieris canidia indica and Lampides boeticus were 2 butterfly species recorded from every landscape surveyed, while Noctuid moth Agrotis ipsilon were super-abundant in all the Biogeographic provinces.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 18 Descriptive File for H-RA 2: Dr. Angshuman Raha

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: Identification of the moth specimens collected through primary samplings across the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR) were carried out following relevant taxonomic literature. Genitalia dissection were done for species confirmation of confusing specimens. Apart from studying the taxonomy of the overall moths collected from IHR, particular emphasis was given to the identification of three families, Sphingidae, Notodontidae and Nolidae. Thus, the total species richness accounted for these families from this study are as follows: Sphingidae: 63 species were identified under 34 genera of 4 subfamilies. The list contains 4, 2 and 1 species reported for the first time from the Eastern, Central and Western Himalayan landscapes, respectively. Theretra is the most abundant and species rich genus with 10 species. Other major genera include Hyles, Ambulyx, Acosmeryx, Hippotion, Rhagastis, Marumba and Clanis having 3 species each. Hyles is a typical Palaearctic genus and was encountered only in the Ladakh Trans-Himalaya over 2700 m altitude. Smerinthus kindermannii is a typical Palaearctic species which also showed a restricted distribution in Ladakh Trans-Himalayan landscape. Notodontidae: A total of 84 species under 54 genera of 9 subfamilies were identified in this study. During last one year, one new species, Nerice (Nerice) mishmiensis Mazumder, Raha, Chandra & Schintlmeister, 2020 was described and three species, Honveda nepalina Nakamura, 1976, Periergos genitale Schintlmeister, 2002 and Syntypistis nigribasalis tropica (Kiriakoff, 1974), were reported new to the Indian Notodontidae fauna. Besides, several significant range extensions were encountered: 16, 5 and 4 species were newly reported from Eastern, Western and Central Himalayan landscapes, respectively. The above new species is second under the genus Nerice and first under the subgenus Nerice from India. Nolidae: Altogether 35 species under Dorsal & Ventral view of Nerice mishmiensis Mazumder, Raha, 22 genera of 6 subfamilies were Chandra & Schintlmeister, 2020, with male genitalia identified in this study. The composition includes one species, Meganola scriptoides Holloway, 2003 encountered in Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, as a new record to the Indian moth fauna (Fig. 3). Besides, 10, 8, 2 and 2 species were reported for the first time from the Eastern, Central, North-western and Western Himalayas, respectively. Tyana is the most abundant and speciose genus including 5 species, followed by Risoba and Westermannia with 3 species each.

Ecology of Family Notodontidae in Indian Himalaya:

Periergos genitale Honveda nepalina Syntypistis nigribasalis tropica Meganola scriptoides NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 19 Ecology of Himalayan Notodontidae: 84 species of Himalayan Notodontidae were distributed among 9 subfamilies among which was most speciose with 25 genera and 48 species, followed by 60 Spataliinae with 15 genera and 21 No. of Genera No. of Species R. Abundance (%) species. The subfamily 50 Thaumetopoeinae though represented 40 by single genus, abundance of this 30 subfamily was very high all through the 20 Himalaya. 10 Among four most speciose genera of 0 Himalayan Notodontidae, Species of Phalera were preferably active in lower strata of the gradient, with mean

species abundance at 750m, while

Phalerinae

Spataliinae Pygaerinae

Dudusiinae majority of the individuals were

Periergosinae Notodontinae

Heterocampinae recorded from 600-1700m. Though Platychasmatinae Thaumetopoeinae majority of the individuals of Clostera No. of genus, species & relative abundance of major subfamilies were recorded between 1500-2000m with mean abundance at 1600m, individuals were recorded as high as 3200m. Mean species abundance of Hexafrenum was recorded at around 2000m, while majority of the species were distributed between 1500-2400m. Mean species abundance of genus Gazalina was at around 2450m, highest among all the Notodontidae, with majority of the individuals recorded from 2000-2700m, while individuals were also active as low as 350m. Altitudinal stratification of entire Himalayan Notodontidae assemblage revealed that 1000- 2000m altitudinal belt was most diverse with record of 45 species represented by 30 genera, closely followed by 2000-3000m zone which Elevational preference of 4 major Notodontid genera yielded 31 species pertaining to 26 genera. Abundance was recorded highest in 2000-3000m zone. 28 species were recorded from altitudinal sites 200 below 1000m, while only 10 species were No. of Genera No. of Species Total Abundance recorded from sites above 3000m. Cerura 150 himalayana was the most abundant species recorded above 3000m. 100 We also reported extreme altitudinal occurrences for at least 3 species: Pseudallata 50 laticostalis (Hampson, 1900), known to prefer habitats below 1600m, was recorded from 2600– 0 2800 m in Western Himalayan Upper Oak-Fir <1000 1001-2000 2001-3000 >3000 forest in Govind WLS, Uttarakhand. Baradesa Altitude (m) lithosioides lithosioides being known up to Diversity of Notodontidae in various altitudinal zones 2400m till date, was reported at 3100 m from Subalpine Birch-Fir forest habitats in Valley of Flowers NP, Uttarakhand. Ptilodon flavistigma (Moore, 1879), known from 2000–2200 m belt in Central Himalaya and 1400 m in Western Himalaya, was recorded from 2800–3100 m zone in Subalpine High-level Fir forests in Uttarakhand.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 20 Descriptive File for H-RA 3: Dr. John Caleb

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: The samples collected from different localities of the Indian Himalayan Region (IHR); Jammu & Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, West Bengal and Arunachal Pradesh were processed for molecular analysis. The leg samples were preserved in 90% molecular grade ethanol at 4 °C in the Centre for DNA Taxonomy (CDT), ZSI, Kolkata. The genomic DNA was extracted by using DNeasy Blood & Tissue Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). The DNA barcode region (~648 bp) of mitochondrial Cytochrome c-Oxidase subunit I (mtCOI) gene was amplified through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) by using the universal barcode primer LCO-HCO. The total volume (25µl) of PCR consisted of 10-20 ng of genomic DNA, 10 pmol each of forward and reverse primers, 10X PCR buffer, 0.1-0.2U Taq polymerase (Takara, Japan), 2.5mM dNTP, 2mM MgCl2, and adjusted by the desired amount of nuclease free water. The PCR was performed in Veriti™ 96-Well Thermal Cycler (Applied Biosystem). The thermal profile of PCR reaction process was as follows: 5 min at 94 °C; followed by 40 cycles of 30 s at 94 °C, 40 s at 49 °C, 1 min at 72 °C and final extension for 5 min at 72 °C. The PCR products were purified using the QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA). Approximately, 1-2µl of the purified PCR product was used for Sanger sequencing. The cycle sequencing was performed with BigDye®Terminator ver. 3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit (Applied Biosystems, Inc.) using 3.2 pmol of both forward and reverse primers on Veriti™ 96 well Thermal Cycler with following parameters: 96 °C for 1 min, then followed by 25 cycles of 96 °C for 10 s, 50 °C for 5 s and a final extension at 60 °C for 1 min 15 s. The cycle sequencing products were cleaned using BigDye X-terminator kit (Applied Biosystems Inc.) and sequenced on 48 capillary ABI 3730 Genetic analyzer, housed at the Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata. The generated DNA barcode sequences were submitted in the BOLD database under the project named ‘Lepidoptera of India’. To estimate the Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs), three species delimitation methods: Automatic Barcode Gap Discovery (ABGD), the General Mixed Yule- coalescent (GMYC), and Poisson-Tree-Processes (PTP) were applied.

Major Findings: • A total of 902 samples were processed for DNA isolation. Among them 687 PCR products were amplified and 274 full length DNA barcodes were generated. The rest of the samples await taxonomic verification before being finally processed for sequencing. Samples from Sikkim were obtained from the first survey in three years, conducted recently (which was earlier delayed due to permit sanction). Samples from Jammu & Kashmir (Ladhak) and Himachal Pradesh are also being processed. • Due to the inaccessibility of available literatures and lack of keys for accurate species level identification, the taxonomic investigation is still under process. A total of 750 DNA barcode sequences of moths comprising 101 species were accurately identified by morphological and genital taxonomic characters. Barcode Index Number (BIN) based estimation was performed to analyze the putative extant morphospecies count. The BOLD database successfully discriminated 359 Operational Taxonomic Units (OTUs) through BIN estimation. We thus, suspect the presence of an additional 258 species within the studied barcode dataset. This is one of the methods that is rapid and reliable for species number estimation and confirmation of morphological identification. • Further analysis of morphological characters in the genitalia of Abraxas martaria provided finer details which could provisionally be linked to specific clades corresponding to the molecular data suggested by one of the species delimitation methods (PTP) which indicated the presence of three species instead of one.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 21

The evolutionary history was inferred using the Neighbour joining method. The evolutionary distances were computed using the Kimura 2-parameter method and are in the units of the number of base substitutions per site. The analysis involved 750 nucleotide sequences. Codon positions included were 1st+2nd+3rd+Noncoding. All positions containing gaps and missing data were eliminated. Evolutionary analyses were conducted in MEGA7.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 22

Pruned Bayesian phylogeny of Abraxas martaria. Color bars indicate delineated MOTUs by ABGD, PTP, and GMYC methods. The representative specimen of each group is shown to illustrate the differences which can be provisionally associated with PTP estimation

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 23 Descriptive File at H-JPF/SPF Level (Table No. 3) Descriptive File for H-SPF 1: Mohd. Ali Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: The entire area of Ladakh was initially divided into six major sampling zones. These sampling zones was further divided into sampling grids according to major environmental gradients and based on accessibility and data points extracted from the secondary literature. Based on the presence-absence survey, large- sized grids were laid over the study sites and the center of the grid cell, grid-line intersection points, or a randomly selected site inside the grid was used to survey the cell. Likewise, after sampling large-sized grids, increasingly finer grid cell sizes were used to map finer scale distribution of the species across the range. Distribution was measured as binary variable, presence or absence of butterflies in each grid square. Abundance was measured by the point-count method designed for open habitats like grasslands. Field sampling for nocturnal Lepidoptera was done by light trapping following same sampling strategy. Two other survey one each in Sikkim and Singalila National Park West Bengal was completed along the different attitudinal grids.

Butterfly Diversity of Ladakh: Altogether, till now 51 species and 3398 Individual Butterflies were compared between five major habitat types. Alpha diversity was maximum for both Grassy Slope and Alpine Meadow with >7.5, followed by Transition zone (7.2), Agricultural (6.3) and minimum for Rocky Desert (<6). Habitat types Agriculture Transition Grassy Alpine Rocky Slope Meadow Desert

No. of Individuals 851 931 648 635 335

Observed Species Number 31 35 35 34 24

Estimated Species Richness (Chao-1) 31.2 35 35.6 34.5 24.33

Shannon_H 2.52 2.97 2.98 2.98 2.40

Fisher's alpha 6.31 7.18 7.92 7.68 5.92 Diversity Statistics of Butterflies of Ladakh Trans-Himalaya in 5 major habitats 47.7 % of Butterflies were recorded from 3001-3500 m. Altitudinal stratification of the families revealed that, mean abundance of Papilionidae species were reported at around 4000 m, highest among all the families. The pattern was largely due to 2 species of Apollos, Parnassius charltonius and P. hardwickii hardwickii, which were always restricted between 3500-4500 m. 66% of total richness were unique, i.e., recorded only from Ladakh Trans-Himalaya. Few species showed wide altitudinal distribution from 2800-5000m, e.g., Aglais ladakensis, Baltia butleri, Colias ladakensis, Pieris deota and Pontia chloridice, whereas few species with restricted distribution were recorded always above 5000 m, viz. Baltia butleri butleri, Pantia callidice kalara Altitudinal distribution of butterfly families in Ladakh and Aglias ladakensis.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 24 Principal Component Analysis were performed to assess assemblage composition of different habitat types. Agricultural and Transition Zone were most similar according to assemblage composition with 72% similar, while Grassy slope and Alpine Meadow had their own distinct assemblage. Rocky Desert harbored the most unique assemblage. Butterflies of Ladakh Trans-Himalaya were completely of Palearctic origin, with only 40% species which was also distributed in Oriental region. Among Indian Biogeographic zones sampled assemblage showed 68% affinity with Tibetan Plateau (1B), and North-Western Himalaya (2A). The affinities gradually decreased East-ward, with only 15% affinity with Eastern Himalayan Province (2D).

Principal Component Analysis of Ladakh butterflies in different Trans- Himalayan Habitats

Taxonomic Revision of Ladakh Butterflies: Butterflies of Ladakh being a complex admixture of Sino-Tibetan and Trans-Palearctic species, several genera had complex phylogenetic histories displaying several cryptic species complexes. To unravel this taxonomic impediment, several genera-specific revisionary works are currently under progress developing morphological diagnosis based on genitalia structure. Few such genera are Agriades, Lycaena, Polyommatus (Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae), Hyponephele, Paralassa (Nymphalidae), Colias (Pieridae).

Albulina metallica Alpherakya devanica devanica Colias ladakensis

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 25 Moth Diversity of Ladakh: 57 species and 2794 Individuals of Moths were recorded from different sites in Ladakh. corresponding to 44 genera and distributed among 7 families and 20 subfamilies, which included Cossidae (1 species), Saturniidae (3), Sphingidae (4), Geometridae (14), Notodontidae (3), Erebidae (10) and Noctuidae (22). Noctuidae was the most species-rich family, especially subfamily Noctuinae having 13 species. Among all the families of moths recorded, mean altitudinal distribution of Cossidae was highest, as Catopta cashmirensis was recorded in high abundance from sites above 3600 m (Fig. 3.9). While all other families were more or less homogenously distributed along the entire altitudinal gradient, majority of Altitudinal distribution of moth families in Ladakh the Erebidae and Notodontidae species were active below 3500 m. Dichagyris himalayensis, Isochlora viridis (Noctuidae) and Alcis admissaria (Geometridae) were most prominent species recorded from sites above 4500 m. Entire moth assemblage was purely of Palearctic origin, while only 33% species were also distributed in Oriental region. Among other Zoogeographical Realms, 16% species were shared by Nearctic region, while 10% species had affinities for Ethiopian realm. 39% species were shared by Tibetan Plateau (1B), while 46% species were distributed up to North-Western Himalaya (2A).

22 Species of moth were New to India, including, 3 Erebidae species, viz. Scolioptervx libatrix, Drasteria cailino and Drasteria caucasica were recorded first time from Indian subregion. Among 13 Noctuinae species, an overwhelming number of 11 species were reported for the first time from India. 12 Species of Moth are New to Trans-Himalaya.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 26 Descriptive File for H-SPF 2: Kaushik Mallick

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: Initially four major gradients were selected ranging 1500m-4000m and 23 LTEM sites were established for the generation of the scientific evidences on Lepidopteran diversity of GHNP through random stratified sampling. Along the altitude gradient, random sites were selected at every 300m vertical distance according to vegetation type. 2-3 sampling plots were established for Light trapping until at least 90% of all species had been assembled at every altitude and the data was pooled for analysis. During current Reporting Period, one field survey was undertaken at Great Himalayan National Park (GHNP) in September to November and about 1800 moth specimen were collected. During this survey, a total of 21 sampling sites ranging from 1500m to 3600m were surveyed in different vegetation types viz.: Himalayan Chir Pine Forest (9/C1b), Moist Temperate Deciduous Forest (12/C1e), Alder Forest (Riverine) (12/1S1), Western Mixed Coniferous Forest (12/C1d), Low Level Blue Pine Forest (12/2S1), West Himalayan Upper Oak-Fir Forest (12/C2b), West Himalayan Sub-alpine High-Level Fir forest (14/C1a), Sub- Alpine Pastures (14/DS1), Dwarf Rhododendron Scrub (15/C2/E1) and Birch Rhododendron Scrub Forest (15/C1).

Moth Assemblage of GHNP: A total 237 species of moths under 178 genera belonging to 45 subfamilies of 16 families belonging to 8 superfamilies were recorded during the study period, which represented Cossidae (2 species), Callidulidae (1), Crambidae (14), Drepanidae (9), Lasiocampidae (1), Brahmaeidae (1), Endromidae (1), Saturniidae (1), Sphingidae (7), Uraniidae (2), Geometridae (96), Notodontidae (12), Erebidae (44), Euteliidae (2), Nolidae (3) and Noctuidae (41). Species richness of the Family Geometridae was highest, having 96 species under 67 genera followed by Erebidae, having 44 species under 30 genera and Noctuidae, having 41 species under 31 genera. Subfamily Ennominae hold highest number of species and individuals among Geometridae, i.e., 58 species under 41 genera followed by , having 34 species under 23 genera. The study contributed 10 species of moth as novel to the country. Cossidae species Zeuzera nepalense was reported for the first time from India, known previously from Pakistan, Nepal and Bhutan. Uraniidae species Epiplema adamantina known previously only from Nepal was reported as new to India. Five Larentiinae species, all known earlier only from Nepal, were added to Indian fauna: Dysstroma planifasciata, Electrophaes tsermosaria, Photoscotosia pallidimaculata, Venusia roseicosta and Xenortholitha falcata. Euteliidae species Anuga japonica previously restricted to China, Japan and Korea, was also reported as new to India. Two Noctuidae species, viz. Ebertidia haderonides and Hermonassa oxyspila, known till date from Nepal and China, were reported as novel to Indian moth fauna. Another 68 species were reported for the first time from North-Western Himalaya, while they were restricted previously in other Himalayan Provinces. Two species of Oxymacaria (Ennominae), O. maculosata and O. oliva were reported as novel to Himalayan moth fauna, while they were known till date only from Garo and Khasi Hills, Meghalaya. Among 237 species of GHNP moths, 56 species (23.6%) were uniquely recorded from GHNP only and nowhere else from other Himalayan Provinces.

Habitat & Altitudinal Specificity of GHNP Moths: Among major moth families of GHNP, altitudinal distribution of Geometridae and Noctuidae were recorded all through the gradient, the mean abundance of Geometridae being around 2100 m, whereas for Noctuidae, it was around 1700 m. Among Geometridae, 3 Ennominae species, viz. Arichanna flavinigra, Arichanna tenebraria, Opisthograptis tridentifera, were recorded only from altitude above 3500 m, may be those species are highly specific to Alpine habitats, whereas, Menophra subplagiata and Odontopera kametaria were recorded only from altitude below 2100 m, suggesting that the distribution of those

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 27 species may be specific to low altitudinal habitats of Pine Forest or Temperate Broadleaved Forest. Ourapteryx ebuleata, recorded all through the gradient sampled, had highest abundance in lowest altitudinal site, suggesting that this species may be a generalist in its food choice. Among subfamily Larentiinae, Photoscotosia amplicata, although present all through the gradient sampled, was highly abundant at highest altitudinal point, whereas, Photoscotosia miniosata, had highest abundance in 3567 m. The pattern of Larentiinae moth clearly indicated that they highly prefer the alpine habitats. Noctuid species like Helicoverpa armigera, Agrotis ipsilon, Mythimna sinuosa, Tiracola plagiata, Trachea auriplena and Thysanoplusia orichalcea were recorded mainly from lower altitudinal zones of GHNP, but Diphtherocome pallida was recorded from 2800- 3567 m and its abundance was highest at the higher elevation in alpine habitats. The family 14.00 Crambidae Geometridae Notodontidae Erebidae, although distributed along the 12.00 Erebidae Noctuidae entire gradient, maximum 10.00 species were recorded between 1700-2500 m. 8.00 Catocala patala was the 6.00 only Erebid recorded from 3567 m, while 4.00 Arctiinae species Spilosoma erythrozona 2.00 was recorded from 1900 0.00 m to 3000 m. 9/C1b 12/C1e 12/C1d 12/2S1 12/C2b 14/C1a 15/C2/E1 Among the 7 major habitat/vegetation types sampled, all the major families were active only Altitudinal distribution & Forest type-wise abundance pattern of moth families in in Himalayan Chir Pine GHNP and Moist Temperate Deciduous Forest. Geometridae being the most dominant among these two habitats, Noctuidae was most abundant in Chir Pine forest. Activity of Erebidae was highest in Low Level Blue Pine Forest, while it was almost negligibly present in Western Mixed Conifer Forest, West Himalayan Sub-alpine High-Level Fir forest and Dwarf Rhododendron Forest. Moth activity was generally very low in Western Mixed Conifer Forest. The two high altitude habitats of West Himalayan Sub-alpine High-Level Fir forest and Dwarf Rhododendron Scrub was dominated by mainly Geometridae and Noctuidae.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 28 Taxonomic Revision of genus Psyra Walker, 1860 (Geometridae) Taxonomic revision of Sino-Himalayan genus Psyra Walker, 1860 was undertaken which revealed 13 species with two new species from Govind WLS, Kangchendzongha NP and Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve and three new records from India viz, Psyra falcipennis, Psyra gracilis, P. szetschwana. P. spurcataria was most commonly encountered species with maximum abundance of the genus recorded in Sikkim. The genus was distributed throughout Himalayan altitudinal gradient distributed from 750m to 3800m and temperature-Humidity range of 3.9 to 29.4°C and 16.2-98.75% RH.

Psyra gracilis Psyra falcipennis Psyra szetschwana

Taxonomic Revision of Himalayan cryptic Geometridae species: A total of 342 Geometridae species belonging to 166 genera were identified from Indian Himalayan Region, of which 17 species recorded for the 1st time from India. Detailed taxonomic study of genera Alcis, Arichana, Biston, Chorodna, Dalima, Hypomecis, Odontopera, Ourapteryx, Sirinopteryx, Ecliptopera, Electrophaes and Photoscotosia are being conducted to resolve the taxonomic complexities. Initially, 2 species of genus Alcis viz., Alcis periphracta (Prout, 1926) and A. trikotaria Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875 were recorded new to Indian Fauna. 2 species of genus Photoscotosia, viz, P. funebris Warren, 1895 and P. pallidimaculata Yazaki, 1995 were added for the first time to Indian moth fauna.

Alcis Alcis quadrifera Photoscotosia funebris Photoscotosia periphracta pallidimaculata

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 29 Descriptive File for H-SPF 3: Uttaran Bandyopadhyay

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: To generate the scientific database of the Lepidopteran diversity in Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, LTEM (Long Term Ecological Monitoring) sites has been established. To do so, several reconnaissance surveys has been carried out in different region of the PA and a total of 27 sites has been identified. The sites were chosen carefully in different habitat type and altitude level. Widely used Light Trapping method has been followed throughout to sample Lepidopteran specimens and to assess the diversity and primary distribution of Lepidopteran assemblage in the area. A database having valid species and their detailed locality record (with habitat type and altitude) has been prepared.

Moth Assemblage of AWLS: Altogether, 364 species of moths were recorded from AWLS under 265 genera belonging to 69 subfamilies of 22 families within 10 superfamilies which included Cossidae (3 species), Limacodidae (4), Zygaenidae (3), Thyriddidae (3), Callidulidae (1), Pyralidae (4), Crambidae (18), Drepanidae (15), Lasiocampidae (7), Eupterotidae (4), Brahmaeidae (2), Endromidae (2), Bombycidae (1), Saturniidae (3), Sphingidae (25), Uraniidae (1), Geometridae (91), Notodontidae (20), Erebidae (94), Euteliidae (1), Nolidae (7) and Noctuidae (55). Erebidae was most species rich family with 94 species belonging to 10 subfamilies followed by Geometridae with 91 species distributed among 4 subfamilies and Noctuidae represented by 55 species belonging to 13 subfamilies. 13 species of moths were recorded for the first time from AWLS; Teliphasa similalbifusa, a Pyralidae species, new to India, previously reported from China; Euthrix imitatrix of Lasiocampidae, previously known from Myanmar and China; Nothomiza costinotata (Geometridae : Ennominae), previously reported only from Nepal and Bhutan; Eucyclodes albisparsa (Geometridae : Geometrinae) was known from Sundaland till date; 2 species of Larentiinae (Geometridae) viz. Photoscotosia pallidimaculata and Venusia roseicosta previously known from Nepal only; Arctiinae (Erebidae) species Lemyra melli was known from Nepal and Tibet till date; of subfamily Noctuinae (Noctuidae), 3 species of genus Apamea viz. A. chhiringi, A. gratissima and A. schawerdae all known from Nepal and China earlier; 2 species of Hermonassa, H. marginata and H. oxyspila, known to be restricted to Nepal and Tibet.

Altitudinal stratification of major moth families in AWLS Superfamily Pyraloidea comprising Pyralidae and Crambidae were distributed mainly up to 1700 m with major species present between 850 m and 1250 m with mean species distribution at around 1100 m. Udea ferrugalis was the only species of Crambidae recorded from 3700 m. Distribution of family Geometridae was all through the gradient, while most of the abundance was recorded between 1850 m and 3400 m with mean species distribution at 2500 m. Among Geomtrids of high altitude, Loxaspilates hastigera (Ennominae) was super abundant between 3700 m and 4200 m with other 8 species viz. Anonychia lativitta, Apoheterolocha patalata, Biston falcata, Lassaba cervina, Opisthograptis sulphurea, O. tridentifera, Sirinopteryx harutai and S. longipennis were abundant above 3500 m. 3 Larentiinae species, Amnesicoma bicolor, Photoscotosia dejuta and P. fulguritis were abundant from 3200-4200 m. Maximum numbers of Notodontidae were recorded between a narrow altitudinal belt of 1850 m to 2650 m with mean species distribution of 2450 m. Spatalia sikkima was uniquely recorded from 600 m as well as at 3300-4200 m being altogether absent in-between. Majority of Erebid species were recorded between 600 m and 2250 m with mean abundance at around 750 m, lowest recorded among all the families. Among them Preparctia hannyngtoni (Arctiinae) and Catocala patala (Erebinae) were only abundant from 3700 m to 4200 m. Noctuids, though distributed all through the gradient, majority of them were recorded in between 2200 m and 3500 m with mean abundance at around 3000 m, certainly highest among all the

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 30 moth taxa. Several species of Noctuidae were abundant at sites above 3000 m, highest among them being Cucullia pullata, Anaplectoides inexpectata and 4 species of Apamea, Agrotis ipsilon, Xestia isochroma.

Abundance Pattern in different Vegetation Types Among 11 habitat and vegetation types sampled in AWLS (Fig. 3), maximum moth abundance was recorded in Dry Shiwalik Sal Forest (5B/C1a), which was certainly dominated by species of Erebidae. Himalayan Chir Pine Forest (9/C1b) was dominated by Pyralids and Crambids along with Erebids. Banj Oak Forest (12/C1a) was comparatively less preferred with dominance of Notdontidae species. All the major families of moths, except Crambidae, were active in Rianj Oak Forest with dominance of Geometrids. In Western Himalayan Mixed Coniferous Forest (12/C1d), moth activity was Altitudinal distribution of major Moth families in AWLS low with abundance of certain Geometrids. The Kharsu Oak (12/C2a) habitat was more or less preferred by all the families with dominance of Notodontids. West Himalayan Oak Fir Forest (12/C2b) was least diverse, while Western Himalayan Birch-Fir Forest (14/C1b) was dominated by Noctuids. Sub-Alpine habitats of Birch Rhododendron Scrubs (15/C1) was dominated by few species of Noctuidae and Geometridae, whereas the abundance again spiked at 2 Alpine habitats among which, high abundance of moths mainly Geometrids, Noctuids and few Erebids were recorded from Alpine Pasture habitats. Interestingly abundance of Noctuids were recorded highest in Alpine Pastures (15/C3).

Relative Abundance (%) of major Moth families in different habitats of AWLS

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 31 Ecological Attributes of genus Phlogophora in Indian Himalaya The revisionary work of the Noctuidae genus Phlogophora revealed a total of 13 species from India including three new species records to the country viz. P. nobilis, P. meticulodina and P. szecsenyii. A detailed study related to their habitat preference and climatic suitability revealed that the species of the genus were mostly abundant 60 in East Himalayan Temperate 50 Forest and East Himalayan 40 Mixed Coniferous Forest 30 whereas the West Himalayan 20 Temperate forest yielded 10 moderate abundance. Although the species were 0 Relative Relative Abundance(%) Sub-tropical W. Himalayan E. Himalayan E. Himalayan W. Himalayan widely distributed throughout Wet Hill Forest Temperate Temperate Mixed Sub-alpine the altitudinal range of 1000- Forest Forest Coniferous Forest 3500 m but interestingly, both Forest the newly recorded species, P. nobilis and P. meticulodina 120 18 Abundance Avg. Hum. (%) Avg. Temp. (°C) 16 showed a very narrow range 100 14 of altitudinal distribution 80 12 (<200 m). 10 60 Although the different species 8 of Phlogophora were active in 40 6 different seasons but, species 4 20 activity was highest during 2 0 0 the Post-monsoon (Oct–Dec)

times. Interestingly, some

July

May June

April species showed typical August

October activity during a particular

December November September season such as P. Pre Monsoon Monsoon Post Monsoon calamistrata, P. discisignata Abundance of Phlogophora species in different Forest types & seasons and P. nobilis were active only in post-monsoon, while, P. meticulodina and P. striatovirens were active only during Pre-monsoon (Apr–Jun) and P. subpurpurea was unique only being active during the monsoon (Jul–Sep) season. All the species were majorly active in between the temperature range of 10–11 °C and 90–93% humidity.

Taxonomic Revision of Himalayan Cryptic Noctuidae Genera Genitalia based taxonomic revision of cryptic Noctuid groups such as, Apamea, Xestia, Euxoa from Indian Himalaya revealed: 3 species of Apamea viz. A. chhiringi Hreblay, 1998, A. gratissima Hreblay & Ronkay, 1999 and A. schawerdae (Draeseke, 1928) as new record to India along with previously known A. purpurina (Hampson, 1902). 5 species of Xestia viz. X. angara Hacker & Peks, 1990, X. bdelygma (Boursin, 1963), X. gandakiensis Yoshimoto, 1995, X. isochroma (Hampson, 1903) and X. lobbichleri Boursin, 1964, as new country records adding to the previously reported species like X. c-nigrum (Linnaeus, 1758), X. curviplena (Walker, 1865), X. junctura Moore, 1881 and X. semiherbida (Walker, 1857). 3 species of Euxoa viz. E. aquilina (Denis & Schiffermüller, 1775), E. hypochlora Boursin, 1964 and E. ochrogaster Guenée, 1852 as novel to the Indian fauna. E. adumbrata Eversmann, 1842 was already known from the country.

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NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 33 Descriptive File for H-JPF 4: Rushati Dey

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: Field Sampling in Sikkim: Stratified random sampling was conducted in Kangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim during November-December 2019 for the first time along an altitudinal range of 1490m- 4200m in 11 sites inside the PA and 4 sites outside PA. Specimens were collected in front of white-sheet reflecting light from artificial light-source, a combination of solar-powered Light-Emitting-Diode (LED) lamp of 48 W with 32 bulbs (1.5 W each) and pressurized-paraffin lamp (petromax) of 80 W with white incandescent light. Mercury Vapor (MV) lamp of 160 W was used wherever electricity was available. Garmin Oregon 550 GPS was used to record exact geographical coordinates and altitude. Temperature and relative humidity at immediate vicinity of the trap site were recorded using Kesterl 3000 Weather Meter. Moths attracted to light trap were first photographed using Nikon D7000 DSLR camera and Tamron 180 mm macro lens and then collected in glass killing bottle with ethyl acetate or benzene vapour. Collected specimens were curated following standard protocol.

DNA Barcoding of Himalayan Lepidoptera: The generated 13 DNA sequences of partial Cytochrom C Oxidase (COI) of 6 morphologically identified species of Phlogophora were aligned against 93 available COI Sampling points in KBR, Sikkim sequences of Phlogophora and Euplexia retrieved from National Centre for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) and Barcode of Life Database (BOLD). Acontia marmoralis (Fabricius, 1794) (KF390949.1) was used as an outgroup. A dataset of 107 sequences were aligned using ClustalX and finally 507 bp of mtCOI were opted to estimate the genetic divergence and phylogeny. Evolutionary genetic divergences were calculated with Kimura-2-parameter model and neighbour-joining (NJ) phylogenetic tree was constructed in MEGA X with 1,000 bootstraps of replications.

Habitat Suitability Modelling of Selected Species: For generating distribution model, primary occurrence records along with secondary record localities was used. Duplicates and spatially auto-correlated points were removed using “spatial filtering” of SDM Toolbox v2.4. Nineteen Bioclimatic variables used to represent the current climate features (averaged over 1970–2000) and 2050 Future Scenario RCP 4.5 (IPPC5/CCSM4; Version 1.4, averaged over 2041-2060) with 30 arc seconds resolution were obtained from the WorldClim database(www.worldclim.org). All data was further cropped by the extant of interest focusing the Himalayas. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) was done for removing bioclimatic variables having strong auto-correlation (correlation coefficient >0.9) and the rest were used for the analysis along with 30-arc second DEM (usgs.gov). Predictive future habitat suitability modelling was done using Maxent Version 3.4.1 (https://biodiversityinformatics.amnh.org/open_source/maxent/). The potential habitat distribution maps were generated using ArcMap 10.4.

Molecular Phylogeny of Genus Phlogophora of Indian Himalaya The generated 13 DNA barcodes (in bold letters) will be novel submissions of P. distorta, P. albovittata, P. calamistrata, P. nobilis, P. meticulodina in NCBI and BOLD database along with first submission of P.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 34 subpurpurea from India. Previously, Phlogophora and Euplexia species have been exclusively discussed on their morphology and there has always been an ambiguity regarding the grouping of these two genera. From this analysis, the genetic distance between the two genera was found to be 6.6% which is significant enough to differentiate and place them in separate groups, thus proving the efficacy of molecular tool acting as a complement to the traditional morphological taxonomic system. With respect to the Phlogophora species, prominent clades were formed. P. subpurpurea clustered together with those of the database sequences forming a single clade with 0.07% mean intraspecific divergence and 4.1–10.8% of interspecific divergence. P. albovittata and P. calamistrata forms two separate clades with 8.8% genetic divergence between them. Though the divergence within P. calamistrata is 0%, it shows the highest divergences with all the other species used in the analysis (10–12.9%). P. distorta forms sister clades with P. albovittata with interspecific divergence of 5.4%. Only confusion in the NJ Tree arose as, 4 generated sequences for P. albovittata clustered with the unpublished sequence of P. nigroplumbea taken from BOLD. As the two species are very similar in their outer morphology and genitalia structure, the identity of the BOLD sequence remains doubtful.

Phlogophora calamistrata Phlogophora subpurpurea Phlogophora meticulodina Phlogophora albovittata Phlogophora distorta Phlogophora nobilis

Neighbor Joining (NJ) Tree of genus Phlogophora with 1000 bootstrap support Habitat Suitability of Noctuidae Genus Phlogophora: The current climatic habitat suitability of the genus Phlogophora was governed by dividing the probability range into five classes, i.e., Very High Suitability (> 0.8), High Suitability (0.6–0.8), Moderate Suitability (0.4–0.6), Low Suitability (0.2–0.4), and Negligible Suitability (< 0.2). Very high suitable areas for Phlogophora spp. under current climatic conditions show the genus to remain confined to the Central

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 35 Himalayan landscape of Darjeeling-Sikkim hills and adjoining areas of Nepal and Bhutan. Highly suitable habitat areas were also identified in the North- Western Himalayan sector around state boundary of Himachal and Jammu & Kashmir, Western Uttarakhand and high- altitude areas of Eastern Arunachal Pradesh. Moderately suitable areas were also identified scattered through Arunachal, Uttarakhand Suitable areas of genus Phlogophora within Indian Himalayan Landscape under and South-West Jammu & current climatic conditions Kashmir. The key influential bioclimatic variables for the distribution of the genus Phlogophora was found to be Annual Precipitation (Bio12), Annual Mean Temperature (Bio1) and Temperature Annual Range (Bio7) with a contribution of 47.9%, 17.3% and 12% respectively. Significant contribution of 17.2% was observed in case of altitude suggesting that elevation is one of the key factors governing the distribution of the genus. Phlogophora species showed specificity towards Annual Precipitation, Temperature Annual Range and Annual Mean Temperature ranging from 1013–2826 mm, 19.60–30.70 °C and 4.77–19.93 °C respectively with individuals having both wide and narrow specificity range. Interestingly, Phlogophora nobilis uniquely showed high specificity towards all the key influential variables with a very narrow range of temperature- precipitation gradient (14.13–16.13 °C, 2300–2511mm).

Habitat Suitability of certain Pest species of Family Notodontidae Gazalina apsara (Moore, 1859) having a wide distribution ranging from 350m-3800m is considered as a serious oak defoliator. The present highly suitable area for the species along the Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot (HBH) is 54.7 X 103 km2 which is concentrated in lower parts of J&K, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand, comprising of 6% of the total HBH area. Suitable and Moderately suitable areas occupying 45.8 X 103 km2 and 108.4 X 103 km2 respectively is scattered along J&K, Himachal and Uttarakhand in the North and Arunachal Pradesh in the North-East. The 2050 future scenario of RCP 4.5 shows a rapid decline in the preferred areas for the species with a 91% decline in the highly suitable area shrinking to 4.8 X 103 km2 . The species is seen to be constricted to minor areas of Himachal and Arunachal Pradesh. The suitable and moderately suitable areas undergo a decline of 57% and 38% with the area shrinking to 19.4 X 103 km2 and 67.5 X 103 km2 respectively. Among the non-autocorrelated bioclimatic variables used (BIO6, BIO7, BIO9, BIO11, BIO12, BIO13, BIO14, BIO17 and Elevation), habitat suitability of the species is seen to be effected most by the Precipitation of Driest Quarter (BIO17) with a 66.9% contribution followed by Annual Precipitation (BIO12) and Precipitation of the Wettest Month (BIO13) with a contribution of 9% and 7.9% respectively.

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Predictive habitat suitability under future climate scenario of G. apsara; Jackknife test to measure variable importance; AUC value curve

Habitat Suitability of High-Altitude Specialist Apollo Butterflies: The current climate suitable areas for high altitude species Parnassius epaphus Oberthür, 1879 is obtained via MAXENT on a secondary database of 86 unique location points. The species showed to occupy an area of 85.9 X 103 km2 around the Trans-Himalayan habitats of Ladakh mountains. Suitable and Moderately suitable areas of 105.5 X 103 km2 and 198.4 X 103 km2 respectively is seen to be around the high mountain ridges of Nepal and Afghanistan.

Suitable areas for P. epaphus identified under current climatic conditions

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 37 Descriptive File for H-SPF 5: Kamalika Bhattacharyya

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: Stratified Random Sampling was conducted along an altitudinal gradient in the selected sampling sites in Neora Valley NP and Singalila NP by categorizing the entire gradient into distinctive altitude and vegetation envelops primarily based on altitude, vegetation types, and land use practices. Along the entire altitudinal gradient random sampling sites were selected based on micro-habitat parameters and accessibility. A minimum of two to three light trap stations were maintained in each altitude envelopes. 27 trap sites were selected in total within these two PAs in order to obtain comprehensive representation of species assemblage of moths. These sites were positioned at the approximate center of plots with a homogeneous vegetation cover, so that moth catches at weak light sources could reflect the local communities. Sampling was conducted using white trap sheets, Gas Petromaxes (equivalent to tungsten bulb of 8-10W) & Solar Lanterns (6-8W), and curated as per standard procedures. Sampling was delimited to periods without strong moon lights. Samples from light traps were killed, collected and curated following standard protocol. All statistical analysis of the generated data was conducted in varying software, as and when applicable, viz. R ver. 3.6.2, EstimateS, Ms Excel prof. 2016 and PAST.

Species Assemblage Composition: A total of 545 species were recoded belonging to 23 families of moths from the study areas. Of these, 437 and 158 species were identified respectively from NVNP and SNP from 1701 specimen. Maximum rare species (species with <10 individuals) were recorded from Suntale Khola (56%) in NVNP while Chitre (39%) in SNP. Moth assemblage of SNP (27.67%) had fewer singletons compared to NVNP (47.5 %), probably, due to sampling error generated from inhibited light dispersal in dense understory and closed canopy in NVNP compared to SNP. Therefore, due to high proportion of singletons in both assemblages further statistical analyses were done after standardising the sample. The National Parks shared 79 species of entire species richness, while, Chitre (2395m) in SNP, Lava (1963m) in upper range of NVNP and Suntale Khola (760m) in Lower range of NVNP were most speciose. The assemblage of Neora Valley NP was represented mostly by species of Erebidae (33%) and Geometridae (20%) followed by Crambidae (9%), Noctuidae (5%) and Sphingidae (5%) while other 17 families comprised of rest 28% of the assemblage. Alongside, assemblage of Singalila NP comprised mainly of species of Erebidae (28%), Geometridae (28%), Noctuidae (19%) and rest 26% of the assemblage was represented by another 12 families.

Species Recorded for the first time from India: The current study reported eleven species belonging to six families of moth for first time from India, viz., Zeuzera nepalense Daniel,1962, Teliphasa similalbifusa Li, 2016, Palpita hypohomalia Inoue, 1996, Palpita simplisissma Inoue, 1997, Hydatocapnia gemina (Yazaki, 1990), Krananda lucidaria Leech, 1897, Agathia succedanea Warren, 1897, Eulepidotis viridissima (Bar, 1876), Ercheia pulchrivenula Gaede, 1938 and Diphtherocome viridissima Hreblay & Ronkay,1999.

Association of Species richness and Elevation: Species richness suggestively varied among plots in both National Parks. Simple linear regression model showed, species richness in SNP to be slightly negatively associated with elevation (r =-0.522, R2= 0.3406). The same model represented 75% (R2= 0.7571) of variations in NVNP and exhibited positive correlation of species richness with elevation (r =0.87). Similar trends were evident in species abundance for both National Parks, i.e., NVNP (r =0.93) and SNP (r= -0.52). This trend shows a species richness peak between 1900-2300m, more specifically, in temperate broadleaf forests of sub-Himalayan West Bengal. Although, NVNP extends from 1200-3000m yet the sample set were collected from up to 2400m, thus, elevational

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 38 association of species richness from 2400-3000m in the national park is not explained here as the habitat, vegetation and climatic conditions varies drastically in this elevation range.

Effect of Vegetation composition and Environmental parameters on Species Diversity: In Neora Valley NP, PERMANOVA results showed significant relationship amid species richness of each family with mean temperature (p=0.035) and mean precipitation (p=0.072) although it exhibited no existing pattern with altitude (p=0.43). Assemblage composition of natural forest, although varied among plots, had similar assemblage composition across the plots and forest types. Moth assemblages of Eugenia-Phoebe Hylium (EPH) was moderately affected by aspect and slightly affected by mean precipitation and mean temperature; assemblage of Engelhardia-Castanopsis-Schima-Betula Hylium (ECS) was strongly affected by slope, mean precipitation and mean temperature. Interestingly, assemblage composition of Machilus-Michelia Hylium (MMH) differed between plots with purely natural forest than in plots intermixed with agricultural landscape. In natural forest patch assemblage of MMH was strongly dependent on hill shade and moderately on altitude, whereas in plots intermixed with agricultural landscape it had entirely different composition that was not affected by any of the parameters considered for the study. Similar trend was observed in Prunus-Alnus-Bucklandia Hylium (PAB) although contrasting to MMH it was moderately influenced by altitude and slightly by hill shade. Lastly, moth assemblage of Quercus Hylium (QH) was different from composition of other Hyliums and habitat types. Moreover, of the eight plots, assemblage of four plots were influenced by slope, mean precipitation and mean temperature. Briefly, the ordinations were not arbitrary with stress value <0.05, thus, the overall moth assemblage composition of NVNP showed stratification by composite impact of forest types and habitat types followed by environmental variables and exhibited less dependency on altitude. However, in Singalila National Park results showed no existing pattern amid species richness of each family with mean temperature (p=0.64) and mean precipitation (p=0.33) with altitude (p =0.16). Even there was no significance variance among assemblages within vegetation and habitat types (p>0.05). The assemblage composition of three habitat types had overlapping composition across plots. Although, composition within habitat types were differently affected by vegetation composition, altitude and environmental parameters. Taxus-Abies Hylium (TAH) mostly covered the protected area but had all the three habitat types covering seven different plots. TAH in pasture was influenced by slope, mean precipitation and mean temperature, while, that of forest patches were negligently influenced by altitude in one plot and other two were not influenced by any other parameters, whereas, in two forested plots intermixed with agricultural landscape assemblage composition was strongly influenced by aspect and hill shade. Only, assemblage compositions of plots at altitude 2490 and 3000m in TAH and natural forest had maximum similarity, and moderately similar to plot at 2300m in Pasture and 1900m plot in forest intermixed with agricultural landscape. Altitude only influenced the assemblage composition of Abies-Pyrus- Betula- Acer- Prunus Hylium (APB); aspect and hill shade mostly influenced assemblages in forest intermixed with agriculture habitat of TAH and Quercus-Tsuga-Castanea Hylium (QTC); slope, mean precipitation and mean temperature influenced only natural forest patch in TAH at 2733m. Further, addition to species level identifications is expected to improve the pattern of the assemblage in SNP.

Seasonal Variation in Species diversity: Mean species richness was highest in pre-monsoon and gradually decreased with variations in temperature and precipitation from monsoon to post monsoon. Whereas, mean species abundance was highest during monsoon and almost similar in pre- and post-monsoons. Alpha diversity indices were estimated per plot each season and compared using non-parametric Kruskal-Wallis test. The result showed no significant differences in the diversity attributes across seasons. Moreover, it was evident from the study that species diversity was greater during dry season and less during wet season. Alpha-diversity indices and Chao-1 of each plot in all seasons were used to generate NMDS with sampling plots grouped

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 39 according to three seasons pre-monsoon, monsoon and post-monsoon. It revealed maximum overlap in Noctuidae assemblage in pre-monsoon and monsoon but differed with post-monsoon assemblage. To visualize the pattern of diversity in relation to precipitation and temperature, Fisher’s alpha and Chao-1 estimates of each plot were compared variation in with average precipitation and temperature of sampling months of those sites. The result showed positive tendencies for both Fisher’s alpha and Chao- 1 with variation in precipitation and temperature.

Association with habitat type: 65% of entire assemblage was reported from Forest-Agricultural transition zone, whereas, each of the other habitat types reported 10-16% of the assemblage. PERMANOVA analysis showed significant (p=0.057) difference among assemblages amid the habitat types. Minimal assemblage similarity was shown among assemblages of forest and forest-agriculture transition zone and maximum similarity in assemblage was exhibited by forest-agriculture transition zone and forest-plantation transition zone. Among the families, Geometridae dominated the assemblage in Forest habitats followed by Erebidae, Erebidae dominated Forest-Plantation and Forest-Agricultural transition zones, but Pasturelands were dominated by Noctuidae followed by Erebidae. Overall, Noctuidae, Erebidae and Geometridae were distributed across all the four habitat types although Geometridae were present negligibly in Pasturelands.

Taxonomic Review of Genus Diphtherocome (Noctuidae) of Himalaya 10 species were recorded under genus including 4 first records to India, 1 new species and 1 new sub- species to science. The species of the genus were found to be restricted to Asia and above 2000m in the Himalayan belt.

Taxonomic Review & Ecological Studies of Family Saturniidae: 31 species from 11 genera of family Saturniidae were recorded from different Himalayan landscapes, viz., HNP, GHNP, AWLS, SNP, NVNP & DDBR including 4 new range records. Comparison of Saturniids assemblage composition of the 5 biogeographic provinces of Indian Himalaya showed that Eastern & Central Himalaya had higher similarity in composition and that of Trans-Himalayan region was significantly unique. The mean altitudinal distribution of all the species from the region was around 2000m including both past and present records. One species each of Neoris was found to restricted to high altitudes of Trans Himalaya and one species of Actias was found to be restricted to Eastern Himalaya.

Diphtherocome pallida Diphtherocome vigens Diphtherocome discibrunnea

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 40 Descriptive File for H-SPF 6: Subrata Gayen

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: To consolidate our experimental study, we opted random stratified sampling along the attitudinal ecoregions based on different parameters i.e. gradient, vegetation type, canopy cover and distance to water within different sampling strata selected in Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve (DDBR). Three different sampling period, viz. Pre-Monsoon, Monsoon and Post-Monsoon was identified to monitoring the species richness and its distributions. Till now, we have conducted light trapping in 47 major sampling sites which were categorized based on altitude and major vegetation type: Tropical Evergreen (500m- 1000m), Tropical semi-evergreen (1001m-1500m), Subtropical Broadleaved forest (1501m- 2000m), Temperate Broadleaved forest (2001m-2500m) and Temperate Conifer forest (2501m-3000m). In our sampling strategy, we have tried to execute three light trap stations into a single attitudinal band to intensify the spatial replicates. So far, across DDBR, 3 different attitudinal gradients were identified viz. South-western gradient, North eastern gradient and North-western gradient and altogether 82 different trap locations were established.

Family Composition and Pattern of distribution of families across Elevational belts: The survey provided 356 species records ascribed to 29 localities, located in five altitudinal band. Among the sites, 897 nocturnal herbivores were collected from light trap, representing 356 species and 261 genera in 19 different families. More than 37.2% of them belonged to the Family Geometridae (N= 236, 132 species) followed by Erebidae 14.9% (N= 142, 53 species) and Noctuidae 8.7% (N= 67, 31 species). Cossidae represented 0.56% (N= 3, 2 species), Crambidae 5.92% (N= 40, 21 species), Drepanidae 7.61% (N= 75, 27 species), Endromidae 1.13% (N= 7, 4 species), Epicopeiidae 0.28 (N=1, 1 species), Eupterotidae 1.69 (N= 11, 6 species), Lasiocampidae (N= 23, 5 species), Limacodidae (N= 39, 4 species), Nolidae (N= 39, 14 species), Notodontidae (N= 66, 29 species), Pyralidae (N= 5, 4 species), Saturniidae (N= 32, 9 species), Sphingidae (N= 16, 9 species), Thyrididae (N= 2, 1 species), Uraniidae (N= 1, 1 species), Zygaenidae (N= 2, 2 species) of the herbivore moth community. The Spearman rank correlation coefficient with Bonferroni-corrected was performed to access the pattern of distribution along altitudinal gradient. Family Cossidae, Endromidae, Epicopeiidae, Pyralidae, Thyriddidae, Uraniidae and Zygaenidae was ignored from the analysis due to least number of records. Drepanidae showed a very strong significant relationship with increasing altitude, Diversity & richness of moth assemblages in different Forest types of DDBR followed by family Geometridae and Saturniidae, which having moderate positive significance. Family Nolidae and Noctuidae showed low significant association, whereas Family Limacodidae exhibited very low linear association with the increasing altitude. Interestingly, Crambidae, Notodontidae unveiled strong negative relationship with the increasing

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 41 altitude, likewise Lasiocampidae and Eupterotidae possessed moderate negative relationship, similarly Sphingidae, Erebidae showed very weak negative relationships with the increasing altitude. Epicopeiidae and Uraniidae hold quite different distributional pattern, showing larger affinities towards higher altitudinal bands.

Family rho p-value SD Drepanidae 0.794*** 2.685e-07 834.95 Eupterotidae -0.09885609 0.6099 4461.4 Geometridae 0.2461769 0.198 3060.5 Lasiocampidae -0.1102905 0.569 4507.8 Noctuidae 0.08552119 0.6591 3712.8 Crambidae -0.303076 0.11 5290.5 Limacodidae 0.03752357 0.8468 3907.7 Nolidae 0.1423035 0.4615 3482.2 Notodontidae -0.2181978 0.2555 4945.9 Saturniidae 0.2288723 0.2324 3130.8 Sphingidae -0.03984709 0.8374 4221.8 Erebidae -0.03145568 0.8713 4187.7 *P < 0.05; **P < 0.005; ***P < 0.001. Spearman Rank Correlations between different families & altitude in DDBR

Diversity and distribution of moths along eastern Himalayan gradient: There was a significant association between richness and habitat, with mean richness increasing along elevational bands and corresponding vegetation types, viz. Sub-Himalayan Light Alluvial Semi-Evergreen (SHLASE), Upper Assam Valley Tropical Evergreen Forest (UAVTE), East Himalayan Subtropical Wet Evergreen Forest (EHSWE), East Himalayan Wet Temperate Forest (EHWT), East Himalayan Subalpine Birch-Fir Forest (EHSAB), East Himalayan Mixed Coniferous Forest (EHMC). We estimated the differences among habitats using a linear model, where habitat was used as predictor of species diversity and estimated Shannon and Rarefied Richness were both significantly associated with habitat type (F = 2.73, p = 0.04, F = 3.39, p = 0.02), while Fisher’s Alpha showed non-significant association (F = 1.31, p = 0.29). We estimated the coefficients of the linear models to assess how species diversity is associated with vegetation types. Since vegetation types were ordered as variable according to elevational gradient. The estimated coefficients for respective habitat types were: Habitat.L, Habitat.Q, Habitat.C, and Habitat^4 and Habitat.^5 . The linear coefficient was significant in three cases: Habitat.L, Habitat.^4 and Habitat.^5 in our models and the coefficient was positive, indicating that moth diversity indices increases with vegetation types from lower to higher elevations.

Intercepts Estimate Std. Error t value Pr(>|t|) Moth $ Habitat.L 0.77057 0.33327 2.312 0.0305 * Moth $ Habitat.Q -0.01878 0.30134 -0.062 0.9509 Moth $ Habitat.C -0.44200 0.32014 -1.381 0.1813 Moth $ Habitat^4 0.77575 0.31029 2.500 0.0204 * Moth $ Habitat^5 -0.68705 0.25898 -2.653 0.0145 * Significance codes: 0 ***, 0.001 **, 0.01 *, 0.05‘, 0.1 ‘’ Coefficients of the linear models between moth diversity & habitats in DDBR

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 42 Variation in Community Composition we performed some exploratory ordination analyses, where we identified 1) which collection sites are most similar in terms of their composition of moth species, 2) whether the environmental/ geophysical variables explain a significant amount of variation in moth communities. First, we applied Correspondence Analysis (CA) to the moth abundance matrix and visualize the major axes of variation in moth community composition. Where the first axis explained a little over 6% of variation in the data and combining first 2 axes predicted ~ 13% of variation exist, which indicates that the moth community composition was influenced by a single variable. Next, we performed a Constrained CA (CCA) to assess the geophysical variables (Elevation, Slope, Hillshade and Moon phase) into play as predictors of moth community composition. The CCA between moth community composition & topographic variables CCA results revealed that geophysical variables explained a significant amount of variation in moth assemblages. The anova test conditioned on five covariables, 999 permutations; F = 1.1545, p = 0.087. Similar to the CA the first CCA axis accounted for 7% of the total explained variation (eigenvalue:0.97), and the second pCCA axis accounted for an additional 6% of the explained variance (eigenvalue: 0.82). The first CCA axis represented geophysical variables along with the vegetational types, and the second pCCA axis reflected differences at the trap sites with the variables. This second gradient corresponded with the characteristics of geophysical variables that had relationship among the Elevation, Hillshade and Waning moon-phase; the major geophysical variables. Moth species segregated along both gradients, with stronger differentiation occurring along the elevational gradient.

df Chi Square F Pr(>F) Slope 1 0.5236 1.0264 0.353 Hillshade 1 0.4763 0.9336 0.701 Aspect 1 0.5087 0.9971 0.466 Elevation 1 0.5890 1.1545 0.087 Moon Phase 4 2.2729 1.1138 0.133 Significance codes: 0 ***, 0.001 **, 0.01 *, 0.05‘, 0.1 ‘’ Permutation test for CCA between topographic variables & moth composition

Cooccurrence Pattern among Moths of DDBR, Eastern Himalaya We recorded 356 moth species among 23 sites along the altitudinal gradient of 400m to 3800m in Eastern Himalaya. Where 63190 species pair combinations were examined and 62799 pairs (99.38 %) were removed from the analysis where expected co-occurrence found less than 1 and 391 pairs were used in this probabilistic model. Result suggested 353 (more than 90 percent) species pair were randomly associated in a community guild. 36 species pairs shown positive association and only 2 species pair

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 43 showed unique negative association over the resources. 9.7 % species pairs occupied non-random association into the gradient and bounded by integrated adaptation process to the Eastern Himalayan ecosystem. 4 species of Gaurena of family Drepanidae, viz. G. florens, G. florescens, G. nigrescens, G. pretiosa, G. sinuata dierli showed cooccurrence with Geometridae species, Heterophelps quadripuncta, Apophyga sericea, Dalima latitans, Electrophaes zaphenges, E. niveonotata, E. niveopicta and one Erebidae species, Eustroma inextricata. Furthermore, Family Geometridae possessed six prominent species, Apophyga sericea, Chorodna obliterata, Myrioblephara duplexodes, Pseudomiza aurata, Agnibesa recurvilineata, Electrophaes zaphenges and owned association with one Arctiinae species, Chrysorabdia viridata. Similarly, in Limacodidae, Parasa lepida and Soteira ostia showed association with Chorodna obliterata, Darisa mucidaria, Myrioblephara duplexodes and Spilarctia sagittifera, Chrysorabdia viridata respectively. Correspondingly, Species of family Geometridae and Erebidae possessed strong positive association with three charismatic species of Saturniidae, viz. Salassa lola, Sinobirma bouyeri and Caligula anna. Exclusively, negative association was found in between Gaurena pretiosa, Electrophaes niveonotata and Spilarctia sagittifera. Futhermore, intraspecific association as allopatric, parapatric and sympatric relationship were commonly observed among the community. Interestingly, Nolidae elucidate negative association in between Tyana chloroleuca and Tyana elongata. Whereas, Tyana chloroleuca showed sympatric association with Tyana falcata and also Limacodidae Parasa lepida and Soteira ostia showed sympatric association to each other with mimetic morphological features. Likewise, in Drepanidae Gaurena florescens exhibited negative association with Gaurena pretiosa and Gaurena sinuata dierli having similar wing pattern.

Intra and interspecific association profile depicted cooccurrence and associating compositional structure of extant moth species in DDBR Landscape

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 44 Descriptive File for H-SPF 7: Gaurab Nandi Das

Experimental Design & Methodology Adapted: After an initial reconnaissance survey in every landscape, one GRADSECT was selected ranging from lowest altitudinal site to highest site. This GRADSECT was divided into 200m Altitude-Bins and transects were laid in each representative bin. For the purpose of sampling butterflies, we followed different trails through different habitats following modified Pollard Walk on appropriate weather condition.

Overall Species Richness of Himalayan Butterflies: In the present reporting period, a total of 484 species of butterflies belonging to 222 genera of 29 subfamilies under 6 families have been recorded from entire Himalayan stretch. Among families Nymphalidae was most dominant with 203 species followed by Lycaenidae (103 species), Hesperiidae (72 species), Pieridae (51 species), Papilionidae (44 species) and Riodinidae (11 species). The distribution pattern of each species has been restructured following current up to date distribution.

Landscape Specific Account of Butterfly Richness: Ladakh Mountain, Trans-Himalaya The study recorded 51 species of butterflies from Ladakh Himalaya under 32 genera belonging to 9 subfamilies of 5 families. Nymphalidae was most dominant family having 36% (14 genera, 18 species) of total, followed by Pieridae 32% (7 20 Subfamily Tribe Genus Species genera, 17 species), Lycaenidae 23% (8 genera, 12 species), Papilionidae 7% (2 15 genera, 3 species) and in the family Hesperiidae having only one species 10 (2% of total). Among major subfamilies, Lycaeninae (Lycaenidae) was most 5 abundant (12 species), followed by Pierinae (Pieridae, 11 species) and 0 (Nymphalidae, 10 species). Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Among genera, Colias (5 species) and Butterfly Composition of Ladakh Trans Himalaya Pieris (5 species) were two most abundant genera.

Great Himalayan National Park, North-Western Himalaya A total of 62 species of butterflies distributed in 42 genera, 16 subfamily and 5 families are reported. Nymphalidae was found to be most 40 Subfamily Tribe Genus Species dominant representing (61%) followed 35 by Lycaenidae (16%), Pieridae (13%), 30 Papilionidae (7%) and Hesperiidae (3%). 25 Where family Hesperiidae include only 20 2 species under 2 genera, Papilionidae 15 (3 genera, 4 species), Pieridae (6 10 genera, 8 species), Lycaenidae (6 5 genera, 10 species), and Nymphalidae 0 (25 genera, 38 species). Among which, Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Nymphalinae and Satyrinae were most Butterfly Composition of Great Himalayan NP abundant subfamily, having 12 species and 11 species respectively. Again,

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 45 genera like, Neptis (5 species), Junonia (5 species), Lethe (3 species), Heliophorus (3 species), Pieris (3 species) and Papilio (2 species) were most abundant and commonly found entire landscape. Most interestingly, Chaetoprocta odata peilei Forster, 1980 was recorded from GHNP, which was previously recorded from Uttarakhand in between 1500 to 2550m and treated as Uncommon to that landscape (Evans, 1932). Some interesting and rare sightings from GHNP; Paralasa shallada shallada (Lang, 1881) from Rupa at 1515m, Nymphalis 60 xanthomelas fervescens (Stichel, [1908]) 50 from Shakti at 2200m, Lobocla liliana 40 ignatius (Ploetz, 1882) from Denga Pool (1970m), Rhaphicera moorei moorei 30 (Butler, 1867) from Rupa at 1515m 20 (generally its ranging from 2100 to 10 3600m). 0 Systematic sampling in Great Himalayan Himalayan Chir Pine Moist Temperate Moist Deodar Forest National Park during Sept-Oct, 2019 Forest Deciduous Forest through 31 transects along altitudinal gradient 1489m-2765m in different Observed Species Richness Alpha Diversity vegetation types, resulted in 2793 Butterfly diversity in 3 Forest types in GHNP individuals representing 86 species. The diversity was maximum in Himalayan Chir Pine Forest at elevation between 1489m-1585m followed by Moist Temperate Deciduous Forest and Moist Deodar Forest. Due to unfavourable weather condition, butterfly transect was not carried out beyond 2765m elevation. In this gradient we recorded only a single individual of Common Blue Apollo (Parnassius hardwickii) at Kherchar (2765m) where vegetation is characterised by Low Level Blue Pine Forest type.

Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Western Himalaya A total of 153 butterfly species belonging to 94 genera, 24 subfamily and 6 families. Among which, Nymphalidae is the most dominant family, having 81 species followed by Lycaenidae 32 species, Hesperiidae 16 species, Pieridae 15 species, Papilionidae 8 species and Riodinidae 3 species. Among major subfamilies, Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) was most abundant (36 species), followed by Polyommatinae (Lycaenidae, 18 species), Nymphalinae (Nymphalidae, 14 species), Limenitidinae (Nymphalidae, 12 species). Genus like Lethe (10 species), Mycalesis (7 species), Ypthima (6 species), Junonia (6 species), Neptis (6 species) were most 90 abundant genera. Among Subfamily Tribe Genus Species 80 153 species of butterflies, 70 Nymphalidae (19 species, 16 60 genus) is the dominant family above 2500m 50 elevation followed by 40 others. Among these, Issoria 30 isaeea and Colias fieldii 20 were abundantly recorded 10 above 2500m and 0 Heliophorus moorei, Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Pseudergolis wedah, Pieris canidia, Junonia iphita were Butterfly Composition of Askot WLS

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 46 most abundant at lower elevation from this region. Neora Valley National Park, Central Himalaya A total of 78 butterfly species belonging to 54 genera, 18 subfamily and 6 families were recorded. Among them Nymphalidae were dominant (56%) followed by Lycaenidae (16%), Pieridae (14%), Hesperiidae (8%) and the least number of species were recorded from Papilionidae (3%) and Riodinidae (3%), 2 species from each. Among major subfamilies, Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) was most abundant (15 species), followed by Nymphalinae 50 (Nymphalidae, 9 species), 45 Subfamily Tribe Genus Species Pierinae (Pieridae, 8 40 species). Genus like Lethe (6 35 species), Junonia (6 species), 30 Mycalesis (4 species), 25 Heliophorus (4 species) 20 15 were most abundant 10 genera. 5 The butterfly assemblage of 0 NVNP was typically of Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Oriental origin with around 70% species affinity for Butterfly Composition of Neora Valley NP Palearctic realm. Among Indian Biogeographic Zones and Provinces, 34% species were shared with two Trans-Himalayan provinces (Ladakh Mountain- 1A and Tibetan Plateau- 1B), whereas all the species were equally distributed in Eastern Himalayan Province (2D).

Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Eastern Himalaya During the survey, a total of 206 species of butterflies belonging to 6 families, 24 subfamilies and 104 genera recorded from DDBR. Nymphalidae was the dominant family, with highest number (91 species), followed by Lycaenidae (35 species), Papilionidae (26 species), Pieridae (25 species), Hesperiidae (17 species) and Riodinidae have only 10 species. Among major subfamilies, by Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) was most abundant (32 species), followed Papilioninae (Papilionidae, 26 species), Polyommatinae (Lycaenidae, 19 species), 100 Limenitidinae 90 Subfamily Genus Species (Nymphalidae, 18 species), 80 Pierinae (Pieridae, 17 70 species), Nymphalinae 60 (Nymphalidae, 16 species). 50 Genus like Papilio (14 40 species), Lethe (9 species), 30 Mycalesis (8 species), 20 Graphium (8 species), Neptis 10 (8 species) were most 0 abundant genera. The study Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae was conducted in different Butterfly Composition of DDBR elevation gradients of Dibang Valley, followed by different habitat. From our observation, species composition of Dibang Valley shows that species were most abundant at lower and mid elevation, i.e. oriental elements. Like as Pieris canidia, Lampides boeticus, Vanessa cardui were most abundantly found below 2000m. Where Appias lalage was occurs between

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 47 1000-1700m. Similarly, Pieris extensa and Pieris melete was abundantly recorded in the month of April, 2017 between 1800-2200m elevation. Interestingly, Genus Udara, especially Udara delicta were being identified above 1700m, upto 2400m elevation. A rich number of Heliophorus moore was recorded from Anini (1600m) and adjacent areas during the study period. Amazingly, family Riodinidae was recorded in between 1000-1800m from the study areas, where Dodona eugenes were most abundant.

Namdapha National Park, Eastern Himalaya In the present field study, 272 species of butterflies distributed in 152 genera, 24 subfamilies and six families were reported. 120 Subfamily Genus Species Among them, Nymphalidae was found to be the most 100 dominant with highest 80 numbers, 110 species (54 genera), followed by 60 Hesperiidae (39 genera, 59 species), Lycaenidae (38 40 genera, 54 species), Papilionidae (7 genera, 24 20 species), Pieridae (12 0 genera, 22 species), and Hesperiidae Papilionidae Pieridae Riodinidae Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Riodinidae have only 4 species belonging to 3 Butterfly Composition of Namdapha NP genera. Among major subfamilies, Satyrinae (Nymphalidae) was most abundant with 36 species followed by others; Limenitidinae (Nymphalidae, 33 species), Hesperiinae (Hesperiidae, 31 species), Polommatinae (Lycaenidae, 26 species), Papilioninae (Papilionidae, 24 species), Theclinae (Lycaenidae, 2 species). Genus like Papilio (9 species), Athyma (9 species), Mycalesis (8 species), Euthalia (7 species) were found most abundant genera.

Taxonomic Revision of Cryptic Himalayan Butterfly Genera Most of the species of Nymphalidae and Lycaenidae, especially from Ladakh mountain and adjacent area, are taxonomically not stable yet. Currently, we have 4 species of Paralasa from Ladakh region, with a probable new record from India. Again, some cryptic species group also identified from this region such as Hyponephele group currently with three species and one species of Karanasa, Karanasa astorica.

Genitalia variation among Paralasa mani group from Ladakh region

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 48 The genus Lethe, including Zophoessa subgenus, is known from the whole Oriental region, SE of Palaearctic region and only one from Australian region. Lethe is one of the largest genera within Nymphalidae family, representing 140 species globally, mostly in montane habitats. As the Centre of Origin of the genus is northern Oriental and its adjacent areas including Eastern Himalaya, S China and N Indo-China. As per various authors, the relation between Zophoessa and Lethe is still unclear, so, need detailed taxonomic revision of the genus from Himalayan region, to resolve this taxonomic Lethe dura recorded from Arunachal Pradesh, NE India. problem of the genus. Currently, 15 species of Lethe have been identified from different PAs of Himalayan region. Among them, selective species of Lethe genus, especially Sura-group have been studied for taxonomic clarification with detail genitalia study. A taxonomic revision of Lethe (Zophoessa) atkinsonia Hewitson, and its relatives, viz. the atkinsonia subgroup are studied with describing a new species L giancbi sp. nov. which was misidentified as L. elwesi (Moore, 1892) by Lang & Bozano (2015) and Lang (2017). Lethe atkinsonia (Hewitson) from Sikkim, 2, Lethe jalaurida (de Nicéville) from Himachal Pradesh

Androconial Morphology of Lethe Group A detail androconia morphological study was undertaken through microscopic slide preparation for cryptic group/subgroup of genus Lethe viz. Sura-subgroup, Jalaurida-subgroup. From this study, length of Lamina and Apical spine has been calculated for the Sura-subgroup. SEM photography has been carried out for selective group of genus Lethe, to resolved the taxonomic complexity among species and species group. Currently, androconia of Sura-subgroup and Jalaurida-subgroup were studied using SEM for the first time.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 49

Location Lamina Apical Spine Androconia Androconia Androconia N Length Breadth ratio Lethe dura Arunachal Pradesh 59.3±2.67 34.3±3.62 93.6±2.84 16.4±0.84 5.72±0.24 10 Lethe dura Kumaon 55.9±3.03 30.7±1.42 86.6±3.24 15.5±1.43 5.63±0.6 10 Lethe dura Bhutan 77±4.37 43.9±2.85 120.9±4.46 24.3±1.89 5±0.37 10 Lethe dura Sikkim 66.3±2.5 45.2±4.61 111.5±5.5 21.7±1.06 5.15±0.4 10 Lethe sura Bhutan 88.2±6.16 30.9±2.56 119.1±7.39 19.9±2.38 6.07±0.92 10

Androconia of Lethe sura subgroup; SEM photography of Androconia of (a) Lethe dura (Sura-subgroup), (b) Lethe atkinsonia (Jalaurida-subgroup)

Rare Species recorded from Namdapha NP: The current records of 8 rare and elusive species or subspecies of butterflies from Arunachal Pradesh, emphasize the significance of a crucial protected area for butterflies in North east India. Recorded species are namely Capila pieridoides (Moore, 1878), Plastingia naga (de Nicéville, [1884]), Salanoemia noemi (de Nicéville, 1885), Lotongus sarala (de Nicéville, 1889), Pieris naganum (Moore, 1884), Erites falcipennis Wood-Mason & de Nicéville, 1883, Coelites nothis adamsoni Moore, 1891, Bassarona durga splendens (Tytler, 1915). The subspecies C. nothis adamsoni and the species Pieris naganum and E. falcipennis are being reported for the first time after a gap of more than a century. Among them; Coelites nothis adamsoni, Bassarona durga splendens and are protected under schedule I and Erites falcipennis under Schedule II of Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972.

Coelites nothis adamsoni Moore, 1891; Erites falcipennis Wood Mason & de Nicéville, 1883 & Pieris naganum (Moore, 1884), recorded from Namdapha NP, Arunachal Pradesh

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 50 Descriptive File for H-JPF 8: Moumita Das

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: DNA isolation has been carried out using organic phase extraction method and silica-based column kit method. Qubit Fluorometric Assay was done for quantification of the isolated DNA. Isolated samples were successfully amplified for about 648 base pairs (bp) from the 5' end of the mtCOI gene using 10 Picomoles of primer pair LEPF1-LEPR1 and LCO-HCO. Amplification for about 180 base pairs (bp) from the 5' end of the mtCOI gene was done using 10 Picomoles of primer pair MINIF-MINIR generating mini barcodes. The amplified PCR products were checked in 1% agarose gel. The PCR amplified products were purified using QIAquick Gel Extraction Kit (Qiagen, Valencia, CA) and Nucleospin Gel and PCR Cleanup Kit following the manufacturer’s protocols. Approximately, 15 ng of the purified PCR product for each of the sample was used for sequencing. The cycle sequencing was performed with BigDye®Terminator ver. 3.1 Cycle Sequencing Kit (Applied Biosystems, Inc.) using 3.2 Picomoles of both forward and reverse PCR primers on a ABI thermal cycler. The cycle sequencing products were cleaned by using BigDye X-terminator kit (Applied Biosystems Inc.) and loaded on 48 capillary ABI 3730 Genetic analyser. The SeqScape software version 2.7 (Applied Biosystems Inc.) and MEGA 6.0 was used to analyze the forward and reverse chromatograms to obtain the consensus sequences. The generated forward and reverse sequences were aligned with the representative barcode sequences from global database for similarity search. The developed sequences were submitted to BOLD database under the project ‘Lepidoptera of Indian Himalayas’ for acquiring the BOLD-IDs. Legs extraction and tagging were done for the samples collected from Hemis National Park and Kangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve, Sikkim (KBR).

• DNA isolation has been carried out for 782 samples out of which 695 samples were amplified successfully for targeted COI barcode region. • 259 full length sequences has been generated and being processed for further analysis. • Genetic divergence was studied in Family Erebidae and Crambidae, Superfamily Noctuoidea and Bombycoidea. • In case of family Erebidae highest inter-generic distance is between genus Lymantria and Mocis is 15.7%, the mean inter-generic distance is 11.7%, mean intra-family distance is 11.3%. • In family Crambidae, within family genetic distance is 9.85%, between genera mean distance is 11.5%. • In superfamily Noctuoidea, highest genetic distance is between family Noctuidae and Notodontidae 7%. Within family Noctuidae the genetic distance is highest 5.34%. • In superfamily Bombycoidea, within group mean genetic distance is 9%, within family Sphingidae mean genetic distance is 9.65% and within Saturniidae is 8.45%. • The highest intra-species K2P genetic distance is resulted in Cyana adita (4.5%). • Other species with high genetic divergence are Ourapteryx primularis (3.7%), Loepa katinka (1.2%) and Asota caricae (1.1%). • The highest inter-species distance has been shown between Ourapteryx primularis and Xestia curviplena (23.5%). • The intra-family genetic distance of the present dataset is ranging between 4.78 (Saturniidae) 6.56% (Crambidae) having 5.61% mean distance. • Inter-family genetic distance, ranging from 10.3 to 11.6% with a mean of 8.4%, having maximum distance between Geometridae and Saturniidae. • The highest intra-generic distance is resulted in Ourapteryx (4.8%). Pitama (Family: Crambidae) and Ourapteryx (Family: Geometridae) genera have maximum genetic distance between them (11.9%). Scoparia and Syngamia (Family: Crambidae) genera have minimum genetic distance (5.5%) between them.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 51 Family 1 Family 2 Genetic Distance Crambidae Erebidae 0.084 Crambidae Geometridae 0.109

Erebidae Geometridae 0.113 Crambidae Noctuidae 0.099 Erebidae Noctuidae 0.084

Geometridae Noctuidae 0.113 Crambidae Saturniidae 0.102 Erebidae Saturniidae 0.101 Geometridae Saturniidae 0.116 Noctuidae Saturniidae 0.115

Mean Distance 0.103

Maximum Distance 0.116 Minimum Distance 0.084

Genetic distances & Neighbor-Joining Phylogenies within different Families of Lepidoptera

(a)

(b)

Neighbor-Joining Phylogeny within (a) Superfamily Noctuidae & (b) Family Crambidae with 1000 Bootstrap supports

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 52 Descriptive File for H-JPF 9: Rahul Ranjan

Experimental Set-up & Methodology Adapted: The adult moths were collected with the help of light traps fitted with solar lamp and petromax lamp. Collected moths were killed with the help of ethyl acetate vapors and specimens pinned and stretched on stretching boards. Before identification, tentative sorting of the collections has been completed. External male and female genitalia were studied by dissecting them out from the adult moths. The procedure includes detachment of abdomen and dipping in 10% KOH overnight to soften the chitin and for dissolving away the muscles and other unwanted parts. Identification was done on the basis of different taxonomic characters like general colouration, labial palpi, type of antennae, wing venation and maculation, different characters of legs and external male and female genitalia. Relevant literature has been followed for the same. The photography of adult moths had been done with the help of digital camera and the external male and female genitalia has been photographed with the help of Leica image processing unit.

Taxonomic Revision of Genus Mustilizans (Endromidae): A new species of the family Endromidae, Mustilizans zolotuhini sp. nov. is described from Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The subspecies, Mustilizans dierli refugialis Zolotuhin, 2007 is recorded for the first time from Sikkim, India. The distribution of the species known from India is mapped. The holotype of the new species is deposited in the Lepidoptera Section, National Zoological Collections, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 53 Taxonomic Revision of Genus Neadeloides (Crambidae): The genus Neadeloides is re-diagnosed and subdivided into two species groups: the N. cinerealis species- group and the N. nubilus species-group. A new species, belonging to N. nubilus species-group is described from India: Neadeloides nubilus N. Singh, Ranjan & H. Singh, 2019. A checklist of the genus is also provided.

• The genus Abraxas (Geometridae: Ennominae) is a highly cryptic group consisting of several similar looking species. Moreover, they are habitat-specific and present all through the Himalayan altitudinal gradient. During current course of study 62 specimens of Abraxas comprising different species were collected. Genitalia dissections and identification is being performed.

• Checklist of Indian Pyralidae has been completed.

Nosophora semitritalis Tyspanodes nigrolinealis Terastia egialealis Polythlipta cerealis

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 54 Descriptive File at Institutional Level (Table No. 4) 1. No. of Research Publications: Journal Articles: 07 a) Mazumder, A., Raha, A., Sanyal, A. K., Gayen, S., Mallick, K., Bandyopadhyay, U., Chandra, K., Schintlmeister, A. 2020. A New Species of Nerice Walker, 1855 and Further Additions to the Catalogue of Indian Notodontidae Stephens, 1829 (Lepidoptera: Noctuoidea) From Himalaya With Report of Range Extensions. Zootaxa 4748(1): 119–140. b) Bandyopadhyay, U., Raha, A., Sanyal, A. K., Gayen, S., Chandra, K. 2019. Description of a New Species of Donda Moore, 1882 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae: Pantheinae) from The Western Himalayas, India. Entomological News 129(1): 49–54. c) Das, G. N., Gayen, S., Sanyal, A. K., Kumar, V., Bálint, Z. 2019. The lesser-known Kumaon Meadow Blue Polyommatus dux Riley, 1926 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae: Polyommatinae: Polyommatini) from Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya. Caucasian Entomological Bulletin 15(2) 375–380. d) Bhattacharyya, K., Chandra, K. 2019. First record of Yponomeuta antistatica (Meyrik, 1931) (Lepidoptera: Yponomeutidae) from India. Entomological News 128 (5): 493–496. e) Das, G. N., Gayen, S., Saito, M., Chandra, K. 2019. Notes on the hairstreak butterflies Euaspa Moore, 1884 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae) with new distribution records to the Indian eastern Himalaya. Journal of Threatened Taxa 11(9) 14238–14241. f) Chandra, K., Singh, N., Kumar, V., Ranjan, R., Gayen, S., Das, M., Dey, R. 2019. The genus Mustilizans Yang, 1995 (Lepidoptera: Endromidae) in India with the description of a new species. Zootaxa 4624(2) 183–190. g) Singh, N., Bhattacharyya, K., Volynkin, A. V., Chandra, K. 2019. A new species of genus Cyana Walker, 1854 (Lepidoptera: Erebidae: Arctiinae). Zootaxa 4603(2) 365–376. Book Chapters: 09 a) Raha, A., Singh, N., Kumar, V., Chandra, K., Sanyal, A. K. 2019. Monitoring Lepidoptera Assemblages of Indian Himalaya Through LTM Plots: An Overview. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). b) Ali, M., Das, G. N., Mallick, K., Mazumder, A., Bhattacharyya, K., Bandyopadhyay, U. 2019. Ladakh, Jammu & Kashmir, Trans-Himalaya. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). c) Mallick, K., Mazumder, A., Bandyopadhyay, U., Sajan, S., Ghosh, D. 2019. Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh, North-Western Himalaya. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). d) Das, G. N., Mallick, K., Mazumder, A., Bhardwaj, M., Ali, M. 2019. Govind Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya (Garhwal). In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). e) Bandyopadhyay, U., Das, G. N., Gayen, S., Mallick, K., Bhattacharyya, K. 2019. Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand, Western Himalaya (Kumaon). In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). f) Bhattacharyya, K., Chatterjee, P., Bandyopadhyay, U., Mazumder, A., Dey, R., Ali, M. 2019. Neora Valley and Singalila National Park, West Bengal, Central Himalaya. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press).

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 55 g) Mazumder, A., Das, G. N., Payra, A., Deepak, C. K., Majumder, A., Mallick, K. 2019. Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). h) Gayen, S., Das, G. N., Ranjan, R., Mallick, K., Bhattacharyya, K., Mazumder, A. 2019. Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh, Eastern Himalaya. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). i) Sanyal, A. K., Raha, A., Mallick, K., Mazumder, A., Bandyopadhyay, U., Chandra, K. 2019. Synthesis: Assemblage pattern and biogeographic affinities of Himalayan Lepidoptera. In, Chandra et al. (Eds.). Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots. Published by The Director, Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata, India. (In Press). To be submitted for peer review: 05 a) Bandyopadhyay, U., Dey, R., Bhattacharyya, K., Mallick, K., Mazumder, A., Gayen, S., Das, M., Raha, A., Sanyal, A. K., Kumar, V., Uniyal, V. P., Chandra, K. 2020. Taxonomy and Ecology of Genus Phlogophora Treitschke, 1825 (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) in Indian Himalaya. Zootaxa. b) Mallick, K., Dey, R., Sanyal, A. K., Raha, A., Mazumder, A., Bandyopadhyay, U., Gayen, S., Bhattacharyya, K., Ali, M., Das, M., Kumar, V., Gupta, S.K., Chandra, K. Review of Genus Psyra from Indian Himalaya. Zootaxa. c) Bhattacharyya, K., Uniyal, V. P., Chandra, K. 2020. New Records of Noctuidae and Yponomeutidae (Lepidoptera) from India. Records of Zool. Surv. India. d) Das, G. N., Payra, A., Deepak, C. K., Chandra, K. 2020. Notes on some rare and elusive butterflies from Namdapha National Park, Arunachal Pradesh, India with rediscovery of two subspecies (Lepidoptera: Papilionoidea). SHILAP Revista de Lepidopterología. e) Das, G. N., Song-yun, L., Singh, N. Chandra, K. 2020. A review of Lethe atkinsonia (Hewitson)-subgroup (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae, Satyrinae). Zootaxa.

2. No. of Data Sets generated: 02 a) Identified Himalayan species list (Moth & Butterflies) comprising of 1274 moths and 484 butterflies which includes detailed Material Examined with Location Code depicting associated geocoordinates, altitude, temperature, humidity, vegetation types and moon phase which was published in the book titled “Assemblages of Lepidoptera in Indian Himalaya through Long Term Monitoring Plots”. b) Total Sequence data generated for 256 Butterfly specimens from Ladakh along with 419 Moth specimens from Singalila National Park for which respective BOLD ID’s have also been generated.

3. No. of Conferences/ Workshops attended: 02 a) “6th Asian Lepidoptera Conservation Symposium”, held at Zoological Survey of India, Kolkata from 18th to 22nd September, 2019, was attended by Mr. Subrata Gayen, Mr. Mohd Ali, Mr. Uttaran Bandyopadhyay, Ms. Rushati Dey, Mr. Kaushik Mallick, Ms. Kamalika Bhattacharyya, Dr. Angshuman Raha and Dr. Abesh Kumar Sanyal. b) “4th Himalayan Researchers Consortium”, held at Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, Uttarakhand from 26th to 27th September, 2019 was attended by Mr. Subrata Gayen, Mr. Mohd. Ali, Ms. Rushati Dey and Ms. Moumita Das. Best Presentation Award has been achieved by Mr. Subrata Gayen during the Consortium.

4. No. of Sites/ Study Area Covered: 06 i. Hemis National Park, Jammu & Kashmir (1 gradient explored) ii. Great Himalayan National Park, Himachal Pradesh (2 gradients explored)

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 56 iii. Askot Wildlife Sanctuary, Uttarakhand (2 gradients explored) iv. Singalila National Park, West Bengal (1 gradient explored) v. Neora Valley National Park, West Bengal (1 gradient explored) vi. Khangchendzongha Biosphere Reserve Sikkim (3 gradients explored)

5. No. of Best Practices suitable for IHR: NA

6. New Observations: • Family Geometridae: Thirteen species of genera Alcis, Cleora, Hydatocapnia, Krananda, Nothomiza, Odontopera, Agathia, Cidaria, Electrophaes, Photoscotosia and Venusia has been recorded as new to India. • Family Notodontidae: One species from genus Phalera Hübner, 1819 (Phalerinae) have been recorded as new to India. • Family Erebidae: Four species from genera Lemyra, Ercheia, Phyllodes and Nygmia has been recorded as new to India. • Family Noctuidae: Twenty species from genera Diphtherocome, Shargacucullia, Heliophobus, Melanchra, Agrotis, Apamea, Ebertidia, Hermonassa, Xestia and Phlogophora has been recorded as new to India. • Other Families: Fourteen species from families Thyrididae, Pyralidae, Drepanidae, Lasiocampidae, Eupterotidae, Endromidae, Saturniidae and Nolidae are also identified as new country records.

NMHS Fellowship Grant Progress Page 57