bugs r all 18 december 2011

Bugs R A!

Newsletter of the Invertebrate Conservation & Information Network of South Asia

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Contents PagesPhotographic evidence of heavy infesta3on on Mille%a pinnata (Fabaceae) by Cyclopelta siccifolia (Westwood) (Pentatomoidea: Dinidoridae). Rohan Joshi, Girish Pathak and H.V. Ghate .. ... ... ... ... 2-‐3Observa3on on S3ngless bee (Trigona iridipennis) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) preda3on by Jumping Spiders (Sal3cidae): with a note on monophagy. Raju Vyas ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 4-‐7A Note on Dorysthenes rostratus (Fabricius) (Cerambycidae: Prioninae) from Coimbatore. H.V. Ghate ... ... 8-‐9Biodiversity of buIerflies in Sirumalai hills, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu. Joy Sharmila and Pandi ... ... ... 10-‐12A report on the habitats of aqua3c and terrestrial leeches of West Bengal. C.K. Mandal , P.K. Bandyopadhyay and Amlan Kumar Mitra ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 13-‐15Terminalia catappa: a new larval food plant of Atlas moth A8acus atlas (Linn.) Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) S. R. Aland and G. P. Bhawane ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 17-‐20Odonates of North Orissa University Campus and adjoining areas, Orissa. Sunit Kr. Das, S. D. Rout and H.K. Sahu ... 21-‐23Announcement ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... ... 24

Bugs R AllISSN 2230 – 7052 No. 18, Dec 2011

Species Survival Commission (SSC) & Invertebrate Conservation Sub Committee (ICSC)

http://www.iucn.org

http://www.iucn.org

Bugs R A! No 18 December 2011 ! 2

On 14th May 2011, in Pune, Maharashtra State, we came across a massive infesta;on of Cyclopelta siccifolia (Westwood), a Dinidoridae bug, on a large 20m tall Pongamia glabra tree (as per recent nomenclature Pongamia glabra = Pongamia pinnata and the current valid name of this tree is MilleGa pinnata. (Anon 2010) (Photo 1). Also the current family name is Fabaceae instead of Leguminosae.

Cyclopelta siccifolia is a common Pentatomoid bug found in Pune. Distant (1902) men;oned this bug under subfami ly Din idor inae of the Fami ly Pentatomidae. In recent years Subfamily Dinidorinae is considered as a separate Family called Dinidoridae (Schuh and Slater, 1995). Among several other places, Distant (1902) recorded the locali;es of this bug as: Bombay, Boreghat and Poona. Distant also men;oned that one specimen from Indian museum has a label data saying ‘Insects which infest Erythrina, several species and other Leguminoceae from Poona.’ Beeson (1941) in his voluminous compila;on on Forest insects has reported C. siccifolia to be congrega;ng on twigs in massed colonies to feed. It has also been pointed out that the colony may also be so crowded that the bodies of bugs may also overlap and that these insects have pungent odour. Among the host plants recorded by Beeson (1941) are species of plants Erythrina, Cajanus and Pongamia. More recently, Naveed et al. (2000) reported heavy infesta;on of the same bug on Pongamia glabra in Karnataka. Naveed et al. (2000) also reported actual numbers of nymphs and adults indica;ng that the bugs were in excess of 4000 nymphs per tree of Pongamia and more than 150 adults per tree.

Although exact numerical count could not be es;mated in our locality, there were roughly 800 bugs within first 2m from the base of tree (Photo 2). The upper branches of the tree had many more and these were seen in clusters. Majority of the bugs were ac;vely feeding on the leaf rachis and small green stems. There were also patches of bugs siZng on the bark of the main trunk and it was difficult to ascertain if these bugs were feeding. The colony was extremely crowded at places as the bugs were piled on top of each other (Photo 3). Most of the observed bugs were adults. But about 10%

were in the last moul;ng stage and on 16th May there were no nymphs at least in the lower parts of the tree.

Cyclopelta siccifolia was originally described as Aspongopus siccifolia by Westwood. The name siccifolia is probably represen;ng “dry leaf-‐like” membrane of the hind wing of this bug. These bugs also appear to be reluctant to fly even when disturbed but prefer to crawl. Even when dislodged, these bugs fall down on ground and crawl over the plant again. Another interes;ng thing is that there were at least 4 other plants of the same species nearby but these did not have any bug.

Acknowledgments We are grateful to the authori;es of Modern College, Pune, for facili;es and encouragement. This work is part of a project “Diversity of Pentatomoid Bugs of Pune”.

ReferencesAnonymus (2010). Weed Risk Assessment: Pongamia: (MilleGa pinnata syn. Pongamia pinnata) (2010) The State of Queensland, Department of Employment, Economic Development and Innova;on, Australia. Pages 1-‐15.

Beeson, C.F.C (1941). The ecology and control of forest insects of India and neighbouring countries. P 771 (T.P. 1007) Indian Reprint Bishan Singh, Mahendra Pal Singh Deheradun 1993.

Distant, W.L. (1902). The Fauna of BriLsh India including Ceylon and Burma. Rhynchota. Vol. I (Heteroptera). Taylor and Francis, London, U.K. 438 pp.

Naveed A, Naik K.L, HoseB B.B. (2000). Infesta;on of Pentatomid bugs on Pongamia glabra W in the B. R. Project area of Western Ghats of Karnataka. Entomon, 251(4): 341-‐345.

Schuh, R. T., and Slater J. A. (1995). True Bugs of the World (Hemiptera: Heteroptera). Classifica;on and Natural History. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York, U.S.A.

Photographic evidence of heavy infesta3on on Mille%a pinnata (Fabaceae) by Cyclopelta siccifolia (Westwood) (Pentatomoidea: Dinidoridae)

Rohan Joshi, Girish Pathak and H.V. GhateZoology Department, Modern College of Arts, Science and Commerce

Shivajinagar, Pune 411 005, Maharashtra, [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]



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Photo 1. Host tree of Cyclopelta; Photo 2 and 3. Cyclopelta colony


The Vishwamitri River Project office is situated in the middle of Vadodara City, Gujarat and the exterior wall cavi;es house a few bee nests at various heights 2.0 to 2.4 m from the ground level and almost close to the roof. Total seven nests of s;ngless bees (Trigona iridipennis) were found on the office walls, the inter distance of each nest varying from 10 cm to 300 cm. All these nests were observed regularly to know the bees’ ac;vity.

The s;ngless bee is the smallest (4.0 to 5.0 mm long) of the honey producing bees. They are highly social insects like honey bees living in permanent colonies, nes;ng in old walls, logs, crevices and such other concealed places. S;ngless bee colonies are perennial and usually consist of hundreds or thousands of workers (Wille, 1983) and are highly social bees (Michener, 2000). Usually, this species select nes;ng sites as hollows in tree trunks, stone walls, mud walls, corners of walls and termite mounds. The cavity diameter varies with the type of nes;ng sites. Most of the colonies have a resinous entrance tube. Inside the colony, food pots and brood cells are arranged separately. Food pots are larger than brood cells and are sealed when filled. Brood cells are compactly arranged in clusters. They can be domes;cated and used for the produc;on of honey and wax.

The honey bees (Apinae), bumble bees (Bombinae) and s;ngless bees (Meliponinae) belong to the family Apidae. The s;ngless bees belong to the super family Apoidea, family Apidae and sub family Meliponinae, further Meliponinae consists of two genera Melipona and Trigona which belong to the tribe Meliponini and Trigonini, respec;vely. Trigona is the largest and most widely distributed genus, which includes 130 species under ten sub-‐genera. Melipona consists of 50 species and confined to the neotropics. All Asian and African species of s;ngless bees belong to the tribe Trigonini. The various genera in this tribe include Trigona, Plebeia, Tetragona and Nanotrigona (Camargo et al. 1988). Trigona colonies can survive themselves for years without ar;ficial feeding and they will not desert their nests for many years.

Trigona iridipennis was first originally described from Ceylon (=Sri Lanka) by Smith (1954). The most common

species of s;ngless bee found in India was known by name Melipona iridipennis. Later this species was transferred to the genus Trigona as Melipona is restricted only to Neotropics (Michener, 1974). It is distributed in India and Sri Lanka (Sakagami, 1978). This species is characterized by black with white hairs on face and sides, orange colour triangular abdomen with iridescent wings, hence the name iridipennis. The species is widely distributed in many Indian states, including Karnataka (Biesmeijer, 1993) Kerala (Mohan and Devanesan, 1999), Maharashtra (Johi et. al., 1998), Andhra Pradesh (Ramanujam, 1993) and Tamil Nadu (Swaminathan, 2000).

The nests of s;ngless bees usually consist of an external tube, internal tunnel, resin dump, waste dumps, wax dumps, food pots for storing pollen and honey. The length of entrance tube varies from 6-‐25 mm long and projected at an angle object, either bark or wall (Photo 1). Four nests out of seven nests are found on and nearer the office entrance. These bees defend only in case of damages to the nest or if any predator is sighted in proximity. The s;ng of these bees is greatly reduced without an effec;ve ;p, hence their defense mechanism is by chasing the intruders by bi;ng, geZng entangled in the intruder’s hair or by geZng into the nose, ears and eyes.

Therefore I was being careful while inspec;ng all the nests, and to know why these bees are disturbed? And what are the reasons behind these bees being disturbed so oren. I observed that bees were predated by few species of Jumping spiders, spider hiding in nearby crevices arer the catch. Jumping spiders are locally know as ‘Makhi no Vagh’ (Makhi = fly; Vagh = ;ger) in Gujara; vernaculars due to its hun;ng habits. Later the spiders were collected for further iden;fica;on; it was iden;fied as Plexippus sp. and Phidippus sp., these two species spiders are belonging to the family SalLcidae Blackwall, 1841. The Indian Spider Fauna is rich and diversified, and contains over 1447 species belonging to 365 genera from 60 families, including 122 species of Sal;cidae spiders as most dominant spider family (Siliwal and Molur, 2007). The Sal;cidae family is the most dominant group with over seventeen species of spiders reported from the Gujarat State (Patel, 1971 and Anon, 2010).

Observa3on on S3ngless bee (Trigona iridipennis) (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponini) preda3on by Jumping Spiders (Sal3cidae): with a note on monophagy

Raju Vyas505, Krishnadeep Tower, Mission Road, Fatehgunj, Vadodara 390 002, Gujarat, India

[email protected]




Sal;cidae spiders are ac;ve diurnal hunters, they do not construct web to catch their prey but these spiders hunt their prey by the use of their superior eyesight to dis;nguish and track their intended meals, oren for several inches. Then, they pounce, giving the insect litle to no ;me to react before succumbing to its venom. They are capable of learning, recognizing, and remembering colours (Jacob et al., 2007).

The spiders oriented towards the tube entrance, sit below the entrance at 4 to 10 cm distance, wait and watch for further strategies (Photo 2). When many bees land on the entrance of the nest, the spider immediately moves towards the entrance and very swirly atacks on the bees. Arer a successful atempt the spider immediately runs away from the entrance, arer catching a bee, either the spider hide in crevice, run or jump away from the nest (Plate A).

The bee preda;ons by a number of spiders (5 adults/day) was observed regularly during day from 07:00 to 18:00 hours but in morning 8 to 9 hours and arernoon up to 16:00 most of spiders were most ac;ve. The preda;on rates were calculated on a ten day observa;on (n=52) from 11th June to 20th June 2011. The preda;on rate calculated per day was total 5 bees (3-‐7 average) predated by two-‐five spiders regularly from each of the nests.

The high number of successful atacks (93.3%; n=48) by spiders were observed only on incoming bees, whereas very few successful atacks were recorded (5.7%; n=3) when bees were disturbed by prior failure atacks, only one atempt was observed when the spider succeeded to catch a bee, while the bee was leaving the nest. They seem to fly out without any trouble whatsoever, but on their return they oren hover outside the entrance before landing on the nest.

In the same vicinity there were few other species of SalLcidae spiders observed especially Myrmarahnae sp. but they never atempted or predated any s;ngless bees, during the study. Also, I found few medium sized webs of Crossopriza layoni (Family Pholcidae) with a number of dead remains of bees. The C. layoni web is very close to one of the bees nest entrance for easy prey. Usually when the bees were disturbed by any predators, a number of worker bees hovered around the nest entrance and some of these are trapped in the web.

Most of the Jumping spiders (SalLcidae) are known as polyphagous predators, feeding on a wide variety of arthropod taxa including Odonata, Orthoptera,

Homoptera, Lepidoptera, Diptera and Hymenoptera. Present observa;ons indicate that Plexippus sp. and Phidippus sp. spiders here are feeding on a single prey species in diet as S;ngless bee (T. iridipennis), indica;ng a trend towards the monophagy habits. Many species of jumping spiders have been observed to atack and consume prey selec;vely, but the monophagous feeding patern observed here is rather an instance of faculta;ve prey specializa;on, forced on the spider due to an abundance of single prey taxonomy in the par;cular observa;onal habitat. Nyffeler and Benz (1988) recorded feeding patern of Achaearanea riparia, the same spider species which exhibits a polyphagous feeding patern in an environment with high diversity of poten;al prey species may show a trend towards monophagy under the reverse condi;ons. Monophagy in spiders is not common, and is usually observed in habitats providing high numbers of par;cular types of prey (Riechert and Lockley 1984). Greenstone (1979) suggested that in spiders, polyphagy may be necessary for nutri;onal reasons by op;mizing essen;al amino acid composi;on, performance of successful reproduc;on of progeny. Here the monophagy habits in Salitcidae (Phidippus sp. and Plexippus sp.) are a further subject to research that they whether produce viable offspring or not.

Present observa;ons of Salitcidae spider were feeding on T. iridipennis, are supported by an earlier observa;on of Penney and Gabriel (2009). Penney and Gabriel (2009) documented pre-‐specific preda;on behaviour in a species of Sal;cidae spider (Menemerus biviUatus) feeding on s;ngless bees (Hypotrigona gribodoi) from primary forests of Gambia, West Africa. According to Rao et al. (2008) s;ngless bees have an ability to escape intercep;on by a spider web. Therefore in context, s;ngless bees and jumping spiders might have some evolu;onary tac;c developed, especially tac;cs of watch and wait for preda;on at s;ngless bee colony. Jumping spiders are generally carnivorous; many species have been known to include nectar in their diet (Jackson et al. 2001). Here, observed that most of bees are vic;mized when they return to the nest, the ;me when the vic;m bee is loaded with nectar and pollen, which might be a part of food i.e. indirectly a part of the vegetarian feeding habit of sal;cidae spiders.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTSI am very thankful to Dr. B. H. Patel for providing relevant literatures and species iden;fica;on. Thanks Dr. B. M. Parasharya, Bio Control Department, Agricultural University, Anand for allowing me to use


laboratory. Thanks to D. Talpada, Execu;ve Engineer, Vishwamitri River Project, Vadodara for allowing me in office environ to study.

REFERENCESAnon. (2010). Spiders of Gujarat. Gujarat State Forest Department, Gandhinagar.

Biesmeijer, K. (1993). S;ngless bees: Discussion and paper at the Interna;onal symposium on pollina;on tropics Pegone 1: 6-‐8.

Camargo, J.M.F., Moure, J.S. and Roubik, D.W. (1988). Melipona yucatanica, a new species (Hymenoptera: Apidae: Meliponinae) S;ngless bee dispersal across the Carabian arc and post-‐ Eocene vieariance. Pan. Pacif. Entomol, 64: 147-‐157.

Devanesan, S., Nisha, M. M, Bennet, R. and Shailaja, K. K. (2002). Foraging behavior of s;ngless bees, Trigona iridipennis Smith, Insect Environ., 8(3): 131-‐133.

Greenstone, M. H. (1979). Spider feeding behaviour op;mises dietary essen;al amino acid composi;on. Nature 282: 501-‐503.

Jacob, E. M., C.T. Skow, M. P. Haberman and A. Plourde. (2007). Jumping spiders associate food with color cues in a T-‐maze. Journal of Arachnology 35: 487-‐492.

Jackson, R. R., S. D. Pollard, X. J. Nelson, G. B. Edwards and A. T. Barrion. (2001). Jumping spiders (Araneae: Sal;cidae) that feed on nectar. Journal of Zoology. London 255: 25-‐29.

Joshi, M.A., Lakshmi, K. and Suryanarayana, M. C. (1998). Melitopalynological inves;ga;ons on Apis and Trigona honeys in and around Pune, Maharashtra. Indian Bee J., 60(2): 90-‐98.

Michener, C. D. (1974). The social behaviour of the bees: A comparaLve study. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, p. 404.

Michener, C. D. (2000). The Bees of the World, Tribe: Meliponinae, pp. 779-‐805.

Mohan, R. and Devanesan, S. (1999). Dammer bees, Trigona iridipennis Smith. (Apidae: Meliponinae) in Kerala. Insect Environ., 5 (2): 79.

Nyffeler, M. and G. Benz. (1988). Prey analysis of the spider Achaearanea riparia (Blackw.) (Araneae, Theridiidae), a generalist predator in winter wheat fields. J. Appl. Entomol. 106: 425-‐431.

Patel, B. H. (1971). Studies on some spiders (Araneae: Arachnida) from Gujarat, India. Ph. D. Thesis, Sardar Patel University, Vallabh Vidyanagar, Gujarat.

Ramanujam, C. G. K., Fa\ma, K. and Kalpana, T. P. (1993). Nectar and pollen sources for Dammer Bee Trigona iridipennis Smith, in Hyderabad (India). Indian Bee J., 12: 25-‐28.

Rao D., K. Cheng and M. E. Herberstein. (2008). S;ngless bee response to spider webs is dependent on the context of encounter. Behavior Ecology Sociobiology 63:209-‐216.

Riechert, S. E. and T. Lockley. (1984). Spiders as biological control agents. Annu. Rev. Entomol. 29: 299-‐320.

Roopa, C.A. (2002). Bioecology of s;ngless bees, Trigona iridipennis Smith, M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, Bangalore (India).

Sakagami, S. F. (1978). Tetragonula s;ngless bees of the con;nental Asian and Sri Lanka (Hymenoptera: Apidae). J. Fac. Sci. Hokkaido Univ. Ser. Zool., 21: 165-‐247.

Siliwal, M. and S. Molur. (2007). Checklist of spiders (Arachnida: Araneae) of south Asia including the 2006 update of Indian spider checklist. Zoos’ Print Journal 22(2): 2551-‐2597.

Smith, F. G. (1954). Notes on the biology and waxes of four species of African Trigona bees (Hymenoptera: Apidae). In: Proc. R. Ent. Soc. Lond. Ser. A., 29(46):62-‐70.

Swaminathan, T. (2000). Studies on s;ngless bees. M.Sc. (Agri.) Thesis, TNAU, Coimbatore.

Wille, A. (1983). Biology of s;ngless bees. Ann. Rev. Entomol., 28: 41-‐64.


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Photo 1: The long resinous entrance nest tube of S\ngless bees (Trigona iridipennis).

Photo 2: The Jumping spider (Sal\cidae, Plexippus sp.) orients/approaches towards the entrance of S\ngless Bee nest (Trigona iridipennis) for further a`ack on prey. Plate A: The spider is return from the nest aaer a successful a`empt and spider with s\ngless bee.


A note on Dorysthenes rostratus (Fabricius) (Cerambycidae: Prioninae)from Coimbatore

H.V. GhateModern College of Arts, Science and Commerce, Shivajinagar, Pune, India

[email protected]

During a short visit to Coimbatore for a Buterfly meet, held in the second half of October 2010, two of my colleagues collected a dead Cerambycidae beetle and brought it to me. It was diagnosed as a member of the subfamily Prioninae on the basis of the posi;on of head, typical shape of prothorax and other characters. These beetles were present in quite good numbers and were atracted to the light (locality: on the campus of Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore) during late October.

Based on the keys given by Gahan (1906), the beetle was iden;fied as Dorysthenes rostratus (Fabricius 1792). Genus Dorysthenes includes moderate sized beetles with mandibles that are long, pointed, and curving downwards and backwards. Other characters include: large eyes, subimbricate antennae, and tarsi with lobes of the third joint narrowed and usually spined at the apex. The species rostratus was diagnosed due to presence of a prominent prosternal process which is directed downward and strongly forward towards the curved mandibles. The detailed characters of the genus as well as the species, along with illustra;ons, are given by Gahan (1906). Hence brief descrip;on is given below. Suppor;ng photographs are provided.

‘….Antenniferous tubers depressed and separated by narrow channels, antennae short not reaching beyond the middle of the elytra, fourth to eleventh antennomeres produced each into an angulated process at the apex on the anterior side. Pronotum convex more or less transversely hexagonal, its sides produced into a flat angular process at the middle, while its front and hind angles are rounded. Elytra are less than twice as long as broad, and rounded at the apex. In legs third joint of the middle and hind tarsi not cler beyond the middle, each of its lobes narrowed to the apex and usually ending in the sharp spine. All these characters are seen in dorsal view of the insect (Photo 1). In the ventro-‐lateral view a long prosternal process (men;oned above), which is dis;nctly pointed distally, is evident. So also are seen the prominent, curved and pointed mandibles (see Photo 2 and 3). In a related species, Dorysthenes (Dissosternus) perLi, described originally by Hope and which is found in Pune, this process is distally bifid.

The specimen collected from Coimbatore was male (total length 35mm). Distribu;on of this species, as given by Gahan is Mysore and Madras. Interes;ngly enough, Bainbrigge Fletcher (1914), in his excellent book on South Indian Insects, stated that this species…. ‘Oren comes to light in large numbers at the beginning of the North-‐East Monsoon….. during October-‐November at Coimbatore.’ Thus, even arer about 100 years since the observa;ons by Fletcher, this beetle was common in Coimbatore during October 2010.

Arer Gahan (1906), the genus Dorysthenes has been revised by Lameere (1911). In this revision many genera described in Gahan now have been treated as subgenera under Dorysthenes. Key to all genera and species was also included in this revision. The current valid name of the species, according to this revision, is Dorysthenes (Dorysthenes) rostratus.

AcknowledgementsI am thankful to Swapnil Gaikwad and Anand Padhye for their observa;ons and for collec;ng this beetle. It is their curiosity that allowed me to study this species. The work on Cerambycidae at Modern College was partly supported by BCUD, Pune University. I am grateful to the authori;es of Modern College for facili;es and encouragement.

ReferencesGahan, C.J. (1906). The Fauna of BriLsh India including Ceylon and Burma. Coleoptera. Volume 1. Cerambycidae. Indian reprint by Today and Tomorrows Printers and Publishers, New Delhi. Pp 329.

Fletcher, T.B. (1914). Some South Indian Insects and other animals of importance. Published by Govt. of Madras.

Lameere, A. (1911). Revision des Prionides. Dix – Neuvieme Memoire – Prionines (VI), Annales de la Societe Entomologique de Belgique LV (11): Page 325 – 356.




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Photo 1: Dorysthenes rostratus; Photo 2 & 3. Dorysthenes ventrolateral

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Madurai and Dindigul districts, a part of Eastern Plains of the Deccan plateau, have many minor discon;nuous hill ranges. The minor ranges are Sirumalai, Pasumalai, Karandhamalai, Natham hills, Azhagar hills and Nagamalai. Sirumalai is 1,200mts high and spread over 24,281 hectares lower hill ranges are scrub forest while major por;on of the hill ranges are tropical dry forest. The hills are facing anthropogenic disturbances by way of coffee estate, rubber planta;on, orchards and cul;va;on of vegetable crops. Buterfly studies had not been carried out in the hills, hence an atempt was made to study the biodiversity. Monitoring and mapping biodiversity is the first step in systema;c conserva;on and planning. The main objec;ve is to document biodiversity, to analyse buterfly diversity and abundance which change along seasonal gradient in landscape. Long term ecological monitoring has the poten;al to provide ;mely informa;on on changes in biota which will help to reverse undesired trends.

Buterflies are widely recognized as valuable ecological indicators and are used to define environmental health and their absence may reflect declining health. These unique creatures are found in a variety of habitats. Buterflies are highly sensi;ve to changes in temperature, humidity and light levels. They are a part of any natural ecosystem as their adults perform pollina;on and larvae feed on leaves, transferring radiant energy trapped by plants to the next tropic level. Many species are strictly seasonal and prefer only par;cular set of habitats (Kunte, 1997) they are good indicators of habitat quality (Kocher and Williams, 2000).

Buterflies and their caterpillars are dependent on specific host plants for foliage, nectar and pollen as their food. Buterfly diversity reflects overall plant distribu;on especially that of herbs and shrubs. Change in land use patern leads to landscape changes that reflect change in buterfly diversity and distribu;on. This type of study is essen;al in conserva;on and management of biodiversity. Since specific studies had not been carried out in Sirumalai hills, the present study has been designed to study the biodiversity of buterflies in Sirumalai hills.

Materials and Methods: The study area is located in Sirumalai, a small hill sta;on 20km away from Dindigul on the Natham road. The hill lies between 100 -‐

10030’N la;tude and 77033’ – 78015’E longitude, with medium height which is an isolated spur of Eastern Ghats. The main stream of this hill is Sathayar. The study was carried out for eight months between July 2008 and Feb 2009. The study area was periodically visited once in a month, and buterflies were enumerated between 0800 to 1200 hrs. when the buterfly ac;vity was at peak. The study area was marked into four zones as Annanagar, Sirumalaipudur, AgasLyapuram, and KutladampaG. Iden;fica;on of species was done using available literature (Wynter Blyth, 1957). The diversity patern was calculated by the method followed by Rydzanicz and Lonc (2003).

Results and Discussion: A total of 38 species belonging to five families was recorded (Table 1). All the four zones showed high prevalence of Nymphalidae species (Table 2). The least sighted buterflies in all months at all zones were the Indian skipper and Brown awl. The buterflies in the first zone had 8 species belonging to two families, Second zone with 12 species belonging to four families, third zone with 9 species with three families and fourth zone with 37 species represen;ng five families (Table 2). Fourth zone had the maximum representa;on of species. The species, White four ring, Pale grass blue and Angled castor were found in all the months at all zones. Fourth zone had the maximum number of species with representa;on from all families (Table 2 and 3) and this shows the diverse number of forest trees and appropriate ambient condi;on for buterflies. The less diversity on other zones may be related to catle grazing, firewood collec;on and related man-‐made ac;vi;es that affect larval food plants. High prevalence of buterflies in certain zones might be due to habitats with least disturbance. Mud puddling is common in some tropical buterflies (Beck et al. 1999). The dominant species in KutladampaZ includes Small grass yellow, Common emigrant and Tawny rajah (Table 4). Several species were seen on soggy places which helps them to fulfill their salt and protein deficiency. The buterfly popula;on at high density in certain zones can be atributed to high humidity due to the loca;on of water falls. The prevalence of certain species in all months at all zones is due to polyphagus nature of the species. Certain species are habitat specific in certain zones due to the availability of food plants (Thomas 1995). Each habitat has a specific set of micro-‐environment for a species.

Biodiversity of buHerflies in Sirumalai hills, Dindigul, Tamil Nadu

Joy Sharmila and Pandi Department of zoology, The American college, Madurai, Tamilnadu, India

[email protected]




In Sirumalai hills, Nymphalidae was the dominant family in all zones. Nymphalidae had been one of the largest families of buterflies in Silent valley Na;onal Park and Parambikulam Wildlife Sanctuary (Sudheendrakumar et al. 2000) The dominance can be atributed to the polyphagus nature which help them to live in all habitats. There is an urgent need to conserve and preserve the biodiversity of buterflies and to immediately implement monitoring schemes to evaluate their present status and dynamics over;me. Addi;onal measures are required to counter human impacts and conserve cri;cal habitats to circumvent mass ex;nc;on of endemics. Buterflies help a lot to improve agriculture, hor;culture and silviculture. The Sirumalai hill area shows high diversity of buterflies and hence need protec;on.

Bibliography Beck, J.E., E. Muhlenberg and K. Fielder (1999). Mud pudling behavior in tropical buterflies in search of protec;on or minerals? Oecologia 119: 14-‐148.

Kunte, K.J (1997). Seasonl paterns in buterfluy abundance and species diversity in four tropical habitats in northern Western Ghats. Journal of biosciences 22:593-‐603.

Kocher, S.D and E.H. Williams (2000). The diversity and abundance of North American buterflies vary with habitat disturbance and geography. Journal of Biogeography 27:785-‐794.

Rydanicz, K and E. Lonc (2003). Species composi;on and seasonal dynamics of mosquito larvae in the Wroclaw Poland area. Journal of Vector Ecology 28(2):255-‐266.

Sudheendrakumar, V.V., C.F. Binoy, P.V. Suresh and G. Mathew (2000). Habitat associa;on of buterflies in the perambikulam wild life sanctuary Kerala. Indian Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society 97: 193 – 201.

Thomas, J.A. (1995). The ecology and Conserva;on of Maculinea arion and other European species of large blue buterfly. In: A.S. Pullin (ed) Ecology and ConservaLon of buUerflies. Chapman and Hall, London, 180-‐210.

Wright, D.H., D.J. Currie and B.A. Maurer (1993). Energy supply and paterns of species richness on local regional scale. In: R.E. Ricklefs and D. Schluter (eds.) Species diversity in Ecological CommuniLes. Universiy of Chicago press, London.

Wynter-‐Blyth, M.A (1957). BuUerflies of the Indian region, Bombay Natural History Society.

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Plate 1: Representa\ves of bu`erflies from Sirumalai hills

Common Banded Peacock Grass Yellow

Monkey Puzzle Common Pierrot


Table 1: Butterflies Prevalent in Sirumalai HillsS.No. Common Name Zoological Name Family1 Common pierrot Castalius rosimon Lycaenidae2 Angled pierrot Caleta caleta Lycaenidae3 Common cerulean Jamides celeno Lycaenidae4 Monkey puzzle Rathinda amor Lycaenidae5 Tailess lineblue Nacaduba dubiosa Lycaenidae6 Pale grass blue Pseudozizeeria maha Lycaenidae7 Plain tiger Danaus chrysippus Nymphalidae8 Great egg fly Hypolimnas bolina Nymphalidae9 Tawny rajah Charaxes bernardus Nymphalidae10 Common baron Euthalia aconthea Nymphalidae11 Common sailer Neptis hylas Nymphalidae12 Angled castor Ariadne ariadne Nymphalidae13 Lemon pansy Junonia lemonias Nymphalidae14 Common crow Euploea Core Nymphalidae15 Blueglassy tiger Danaus limniace Nymphalidae16 Chesnut streaked sailer Neptis Jumbah Nymphalidae17 Indian red admiral Vanessa indica Nymphalidae18 Danaid egg fly Hypolimnas misippus Nymphalidae19 Tawny coster Telchinia violae Nymphalidae20 White four ring Ypthima ceylonica Nymphalidae21 Common mormon Papilio polytes Papilionidae22 Lime butterfly Papilio demoleus Papilionidae23 Blue mormon Papilio polymnestor Papilionidae24 Common rose Tros aristolochiae Papilionidae25 Crimson rose Tros hector Papilionidae26 Common banded peacock Papilio crino Papilionidae27 Dark wanderer Pareronia ceylonica Pieridae28 Common grass yellow Eurema hecabe Pieridae29 Yellow Orange tip Huphina nerissa Pieridae30 Common emigrant Catopsila pyranthe Pieridae31 Common gull Huphina nerissa Pieridae32 White orange tip Ixias marianne Pieridae33 Psyche Leptosia nina Pieridae34 Great orange tip Hebomia glaucippes Pieridae35 Crimson tip Colotis danae Pieridae36 Common jezebel Delias eucharis Pieridae37 Indian skipper Spialia galba Hesperiidae38 Brown awl Badamia exclamationis Hesperiidae

Table 2: Number of Species of butterflies belonging to different families in different zones at Sirumalai hills

Zones Lycaenidae Nymphalidae Papilionidae Pieridae Hesperiidae

Annanagar 2 6 --- --- ---Sirumalaipudur 1 8 1 2 ----Agastiyapuram 1 7 --- 1 ----Kutladampatti 6 14 5 11 1

Table 3: Species diversity at different sites and different months in Sirumalai hillsMonthsMonthsMonthsMonthsMonthsMonthsMonthsMonths

Sites July Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Jan FebAnnanagar 5 5 5 6 5 5 5 5Sirumalai Pudur 11 10 10 9 10 11 11 10Kutladampatti 25 26 34 37 37 35 36 35Aagartiyaparam 5 5 5 6 8 7 7 7

Table 4: Density pattern of butterflies in Kutladamptatti

Family Lycaenidae OccurrenceCommon pierrot <1%Angled pierrot <1%Common cerulean <1%Monkey puzzle <1%Tailess line blue <1%Pale grass blue 1-5%Family PieridaeCommon jezeebel <1%White orange tip 1-5%Dark wanderer 1-5%Common gull 1-5%Lime yellow butterfly 1-5%Psyche 1-5%Great orange tip 1-5%Yellow orange tip 1-5%Small grass yellow ≥5%Common emigrant ≥5%Family NymphalidaeBrown awl <1%Plain tiger <1%Chestnut streaked sailer <1%Common baron 1-5%Common banded

peacock 1-5%

Common sailer 1-5%Angled castor 1-5%Dark blue tiger 1-5%Danaid egg fly 1-5%Tawny castor 1-5%Great Egg fly 1-5%Lemon Pansy 1-5%Common Indian Crow 1-5%Tawny Rajah ≥5%Family HesperiidaeWhite four ring 1-5%Family PapilionidaeCommon mormon 1-5%Blue mormon 1-5%Common rose 1-5%Crimson rose 1-5<1% Satellite species, 1-5% Subdominant

species, ≥5% Dominant Species


Habitat ecology of leeches plays an important role in distribu;on. Aqua;c habitat consists of flowing water or lo;c and standing water or len;c. Len;c is subdivided into pond or palustraine, lake or lacustrine, paddy field and sewage or sewerage. Lo;c is divided into hill stream, river or riverine, brackish or estuarine. There are about 668 leech species in the world. In India, contemporary works on taxonomy and habitat ecology on leeches include those of Mandal (1996, 2000, 2004 and 2005), Bandyopadhyay and Mandal (2005), Soota (1977), Chandra & Mahajan (1976), Ghosh (1998) who were the early contributors in the field of taxonomy and ecology of leeches of India.

Material and Methods Aqua;c and terrestrial leeches were collected using various tools. Arer cleaning, the leeches were placed in a tray with a small quan;ty of water and were slowly killed with alcohol. Just arer death, the leeches were kept in 70% alcohol for permanent preserva;on. Four percent of formalin was also used as fixing fluid.

ResultsOzobranchus: This genus is represented by a single species, Ozobranchus shipleyi Harding, 1909 and is found in both fresh and salt water bodies. Mangrove vegeta;on is their favourite habitat.

Glossiphonia annandalei Oka, 1921 is found to occur in freshwater habitats like lakes and ponds. They inhabit aqua;c vegeta;on viz., Vallisnaria, water hyacinth and aqua;c grasses.Glossiphonia heteroclita (Linnaeus, 1761) occur in lakes and ponds. They live on submerged aqua;c plants. Some leeches were collected from molluscs and some from beneath the leaves of water hyacinth.Glossiphonia weberi Blanchard, 1897 is found in ponds, lakes and streams or as free living. This species has been collected from molluscs, aqua;c beetles, amphibians and leaves of aqua;c plants also.Batracobdella reLculata (Kaburaki, 1921) are found in ponds and pools. They live atached to aqua;c plants such as lotus, water hyacinth and aqua;c grasses. Some leeches were collected from beneath the lotus leaves, some from the body of Lymnaea acuminata and

Bellamya bengalensis.Helobdella nociva Harding, 1924 is found in streams, ponds and lakes. They have been collected from under the surface of bricks and earthenware pots from Kolkata and from the aqua;c grasses at Bankura. They stay amongst vegeta;on to atack fishes and gastropods.

Hemiclepsis: This genus is represented by two species in West Bengal.Hemiclepsis marginata marginata (Muller, 1774) are found atached to water hyacinth and other aqua;c plants. This species is found in freshwater ponds, streams and Lakes. They were also collected from fresh water mussel Lamellidens marginalis from a pond near Canning in the 24 Parganas district. They have also been found atached to Lymnaea, a molluscan species that act as an effec;ve agent in transmiZng the blood parasites of fishes and amphibians.Hemiclepsis marginata asiaLca is found on the undersurface of leaves of aqua;c plants in ponds and lakes. Vegeta;on such as water hyacinth, lotus, aqua;c grasses are suitable habitat of this species. They are collected from the lower leaf of aqua;c plants, lotuses and are also found atached to Bellamya and Lymnaea species.

Paraclepsis: This genus is represented by two species, namely Paraclepsis praedarix Harding, 1924 and Paraclepsis gardensi Mandal, 2004.Paraclepsis praedarix live in lakes, tanks, pools, small streams as free living or atached to submerged ar;cles. They were collected from under immersed leaves of aqua;c worts, Lemna and other aqua;c plants. Paraclepsis gardensi have been collected from ponds and lakes at Howrah, Midnapur and north 24 Parganas. Some specimens have been found atached to amphibians and some on leaves of aqua;c worts and water hyacinth.

Placobdella: This genus is represented by five species-‐ Placobdella emydae, Placobdella fulva, Placobdella harasundarai, Placobdella horai and Placobdella undulate.Placobdella emydae Harding, 1920 are found under the leaves of aqua;c worts and submerged stones or bricks.

A report on the habitats of aqua3c and terrestrial leeches of West Bengal

C.K. Mandal 1, P.K. Bandyopadhyay 2 and Amlan Kumar Mitra 3

1 Zoological Survey of India, 27, J.L. Nehru Road, FPS Building, Kolkata, West Bengal 700016, India2 Parasitology Laboratory, Department of Zoology, University of Kalyani, Kalyani, West Bengal 741235, India

3 Department of Zoology, Ranaghat College, Ranaghat, West Bengal 741202, IndiaEmail: 2 [email protected] (corresponding author)




Placobdella fulva Harding, 1924 are found under the leaves of aqua;c worts, lotus leaves, under stones or bricks. They were mainly collected from under the submerged leaves of aqua;c worts. They were also found at the edges of Unio shell and are parasi;c on turtles.Placobdella harasundarai Mandal, 2004 found in ponds only. This species was collected from ‘Harasundarai’ pond of Vojerhat, south 24 Parganas atached to a submerged leaf of water hyacinth. Others were atached to mollusc shells. Placobdella horai Baugh, 1960 found in tanks, pools and lakes atached to submerged leaves of water hyacinth and submerged ar;cles.Placobdella undulate Harding, 1924 is found in tanks, pools and lakes, free lying or atached to submerged ar;cles. They were collected from submerged leaves of water hyacinth.

Nematobdella: This genus is represented by a single species Nematobdella indica Kaburaki, 1921. It is found atached to the stem of aqua;c worts or water hyacinth. It was collected from under submerged leaves of aqua;c worts.

Herpobdelloidea: It is represented by a single species Herpobdelloidea lateroculata Kaburaki, 1921. They are found in small streams and ponds. They were collected from submerged leaves and roots of water hyacinth and aqua;c grasses.

Barbronia: This genus is represented by only one species, Barbronia weberi (Blanchard, 1897). They are found in associa;on with glossiphonids in ponds, lakes and pools. Water hyacinth and other aqua;c grasses are the main vegeta;on. They have also been found atached to submerged ar;cles. They were collected from submerged leaves of water hyacinth.

Poecillobdella: This genus is represented by two species, Poecilobdella granulosa (Savigny, 1820) and Poecilobdella manillensis (Lesson, 1842). They are found in paddy fields, ponds, canals, swamps and rivers.Poecilobdella manillensis are found in paddy fields, ponds, swamps, rivers, tanks, sluggish streams and springs. They are also found in tanks, and atached to the legs of cows during grazing.

Hirudo: This genus is represented by a single species Hirudo birmanica (Blanchard, 1894). They are found in ponds, drains, swamps, streams and rivers and in wells also. They were collected from drains and paddy fields.

Dinobdella: This genus is represented by a single

species Dinobdella ferox. They are found atached to the stems of aqua;c worts in ponds and paddy fields. They were collected from paddy fields atached to the leaves of aqua;c worts.

Haemadipsa: This genus of terrestrial leeches is represented by six species i.e., Haemadipsa dussumieri, Haemadipsa montana, Haemadipsa ornata , Haemadipsa sylvestris, Haemadipsa zeylanica agilis and Haemadipsa zeylanica monLvindicis (Table 1).Haemadipsa dussumieri Blanchard, 1917 are found in areas of mountain land, sides of lakes. They were collected from Darjeeling, West Bengal. Haemadipsa Montana Moore, 1927 are found in deep and moist forests up to 3000m height atached to vegeta;on like grasses (Verbinacae family), mosses and ferns. Haemadipsa ornate Moore, 1927 are found in deep and damp forests. Chotra, mosses, ferns, grasses and bushes of litle plants are the vegeta;on to which they are frequently atached. Haemadipsa sylvestris Blanchard, 1894 are found in moist places. Vegeta;on is grasses, moss, ferns, creepers, bushes near ponds, lakes and springs etc. They are the only species found both in plains and mountains. They can swim and as such are called amphibious leeches. They are collected from fields where cows graze. Haemadipsa Zeylanica agilis Moore, 1927 are found atached to Boro grasses and other semi aqua;c grasses in damp places. They are collected from under stones in damp places in Darjeeling. Haemadipsa zeylanica monLvindicis Moore, 1927 lives in damp ravines and drippy forests up to 3000m. height, atacks catle and human beings. Vegeta;on is grasses and other semi aqua;c grasses and bushes.

Discussion: The present study on habitat ecology documents the occurrence of freshwater leeches in West Bengal (Table 2). Out of five families of leeches in West Bengal four are aqua;c. The lone marine/brackish water species recorded in this study is Ozobranchus sipleyi belonging to family Piscicolidae (Ghosh, 1998). Out of twenty three aqua;c leech species, the Glossiphonidae family includes fourteen species under six genera; Erpobdelidae includes three species, under three genera. Due to the availability of fresh water with extensive vegeta;on, aqua;c species dominate amongst the leech species recorded. Three species Nematobdella indica, Herpobdelloidea indica and Barbronia weberi of family Erpobdellidae have been found in the roots of water hyacinth. On the other hand, three species of genus Glossiphonia, one species of genus Hemiclepsis, one species of genus


Batracobdella, two species of genus Paraclepsis, five species of genus Placobdella, were found atached to the submerged leaves of water hyacinth and other aqua;c plants. Four species belonging to three genera Dinobdella, Poecilobdella and Hirudo of Hirididae family are mainly paddy field leeches.The habitat ecology of the terrestrial leeches reveals the distribu;on of terrestrial leeches in West Bengal. Out of five families of leeches in West Bengal, just one is terrestrial. Habitat ecology of terrestrial leeches shows one significant feature emerging out of this study, that only Haemadipsa sylvestris of the six species of leeches is available in all the districts of West Bengal. It has a high degree of adaptability and therefore is found in the moist grassland of the plains as well as in the Mountains. The other five species of the same genus are found only in the mountains. Haemadipsa dussumieri, a southern Indian leech is also found in West Bengal, possibly due to the similarity of habitat ecology. The study on habitat ecology of leeches reveals the dominance of aqua;c species in West Bengal.

ReferencesBandyopadhyay, P.K. & C.K. Mandal (2005). On occurrence of five leeches in West Bengal. Record of Zooogical Survey of India (part 3–4): 93–101.

Bha\a, M.L. (1955). Haemadipsa zelanica agilis (Moore) a land leech from Nainital & Almora. Proceedings of Indian Science Congress AssociaLon 42: 286.

Chandra, M. (1976). On a small collec;on of leeches from Maharastra State, India. Record of Zoological Survey of India 69 (1–4): 325–328.

Chandra, M. & K.K. Mahajan (1976). Leeches of Simla Hills, Himachal Pradesh. Record of Zoological Survey of India 69(1–4): 255–259.

Ghosh, G.C. (1998). Leech fauna of West Bengal. State Fauna Series 3. Zoological Survey of India 10: 227–249.

Mandal, C.K. (1996). On the occurrence of the two Leeches; Hemiclepsis marginata asiaLca and Placobdella fulva in West Bengal. Science and Culture 62(5–6).

Mandal, C.K. (2000). On the occurrence and breeding season of the leech Placobdella emydae in West Bengal. Science and Culture 66(7–8): 267–268.

Mandal, C.K. (2004). Endemic leech fauna of India. Record of Zoological Survey of India: 103 (Part 1–2): 103–110.

Mandal, C.K. (2004). On some leeches of Arunachal Pradesh, India. State Fauna Series 13: (part-‐2): 47–48.

Mandal, C.K. (2004). Paraclepsis gardensi (Hirudinea: Glossiphonidae) a new species of leech from West Bengal, India. Record of Zoological Survey of India 103(Part1-‐2): 111–114.

Mandal, C.K. (2004). Placobdella harasundarai (Hirudinea: Glossiphonidae) a new species of Leech from West Bengal, India. Record of Zoological Survey of India 103 (Part1-‐ 2): 99–102.

Mandal, C.K. (2005). State Fauna Series, 5: Leech fauna of coastal districts of Andhra Pradesh. Zoological Survey of India (part-‐5): 339–355.

Soota, T.D. & G.C. Ghosh (1977). On some Indian Leeches. NewsleUer of Zoological Survey of India: 3(6): 359–360.

Acknowledgements: The first author is grateful to Dr. Ramakrishna, Director, Zoological Survey of India, for lucid sugges;ons during the study of the leeches, and our special thanks to Dr. J.G. Patanayak O/C General Non-‐Chordata Sec;on. And deep gra;tude to the officers and staffs, General Non-‐Chordata sec;on for their valid sugges;ons.

S.No. Species P L R E Hs Pf S T Remarks1 Haemadipsa dussumieri - - - - - - - + A hill species, suck blood of man and animals2 Haemadipsa montana - + - - - + + + Mainly a mountain species suck blood of cattle and

man3 Haemasdipsa ornata + + + + + + + + They are found both on mountains and plain land,

suck blood of cattle, mammals and man4 Haemadipsa zeylanica agilis - - - - - + + + A hill species, suck blood of man and animals5 Haemasdipsa zeylanica

montivindicis- - - - - + + + Mainly mountain species, suck blood of cattle and

man6 Haemadipsa sylvestris - - - - - + - + It is found both on plain and mountain. Suck blood

of cattle and man

Table 1: Habitat ecology of terrestrial leeches of West Bengal(P - Palustraine; L - Lacustraine; R - Riverine; E - Estuarine; Hs - Hill stream; Pf - Paddy field; S - Swearage; T - Terrestrial)


S.No. Species P L R E Hs Pf S T Remarks1 Dinobdella ferox + - - - - + - - Paddy field leeches are found attached with aquatic

worts2 Glossiphonia heteroclita + + - - - + - - Found attached with submerged aquatic plants eg.

Waterhyacinth, Chara, and to molluscs3 Batracobdella reticulata + - - - - - - - Found attached with submerged lotus leaf and

mollusks of field associated pond4 Glossiphonia weberi + + - - + - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth and molluscs5 Helobdella nociva + + - - + - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth, waterlily and molluscs6 Hemiclepsis marginata

asiatica+ + - - - - - + Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth, lotus7 H. marginata marginata + + + - - - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth, lotus, aquatic plants8 Nematobdella indica + + - - - - - - Found attached with the roots and, leaves of water

hyacinth9 Herpobdelloidea lateroculat + + + - - + + Found attached with the roots and, leaves of water

hyacinth, aquatic grasses10 Poecilobdella granulosa + + + - + + + - Found attached with the legs of cattle in the pond and

from paddy fields11 Poecilobdella manillensis + + + - + + + - They are found attached with amphibian and

mammals12 Hirudo birmanica + + + + + + - Collected from a bathroom of college street, drains

and paddy field13 Ozobranchus shipleyi - - + + - - - - Found attached with plastorn of a tortoise of zoo

garden, Calcutta14 Paraclepsis praedatrix + + + - - - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth, lotus, other aquatic plants.15 Paraclepsis gardensi + + - - - - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth and legs of frogs16 Placobdella emdaelac + + - - - - - - Found attached with submerged leaf of water

hyacinth and submerged articles17 Pbdella fulva + + + - + + + - Found attached with submerged articles, leaf of water

hyacinth; suck fish blood.

Table 2: Habitat ecology of aquatic leeches of West Bengal(P - Palustraine; L - Lacustraine; R - Riverine; E - Estuarine; Hs - Hill stream; Pf - Paddy field; S - Swearage; T - Terrestrial)


Terminalia catappa: a new larval food plant of Atlas moth A8acus atlas (Linn.) Lepidoptera: Saturniidae)

S. R. Aland and G. P. BhawaneDepartment of Zoology, Shivaji University, Kolhapur 416 004, Maharashtra India

[email protected]

The family Saturniidae includes nearly 1200-‐1500 species from all over the world. Indian subcon;nent (from Himalaya to Sri Lanka) may contain approximately 50 species (Nassig et al. 1996). Whereas Arora and Gupta (1979) recorded about 40 species of silk moths from India alone. As per views and classifica;on of Lemaire and Minet (1998) this family is the largest family of Bombycoidea with nearly 1861 species with 162 genera and 9 subfamilies. The saturnid genus AUacus, from tropical Asia, encompasses the largest winged moths from family Saturniidae (Michener, 1952). Members of this genus are defoliators of Eucalyptus and Araucauria in Australia, New Guinea and on trees in North America. It has also been reported on Pine in the Dominican Republic. According to Jurriaanse and Lineman’s (1920) species of AUacus are not referred as major pests of agriculture. They atack various cul;vated plants such as avocado, guava, quinine, citrus and tea in Indonesia and Southeaster Asia and the Philippines (Navarro, 1911). AUacus atlas is reared on a small scale China now for commercial silk produc;on (Yan, 2001; Li, 2005; Chen and Feng, 2009). Sahu and Bindroo (2007) studied some wild silk moth diversity and reported AUacus atlas from North East part of India. Very litle is known about the ecology and biology of the Atlas moth, AUacus atlas. The adults are nocturnal and have been recorded during the wet season (from January to March) (Dodd, 1935). As per the criteria laid out by Braby and Wilson, (2006) (As per this criteria, B1ab (i,ii,iii) + 2ab (i,ii,iii)] based on: extent of occurrence <5000km2, area of occupancy <500km2, known to exist at <5 loca;on and inferred decline) the genus AUacus is ranked as ‘Endangered’ in Northern Territory.

According to Palkar (2008) AUacus atlas is commonly seen during monsoon season in Konkan region of Maharashtra and recorded Embelia acuLpetalum (Family: Myrsinaceae), a common plant in Konkan as a new food plant of A. atlas. Jugale et al., (2010) recorded A. atlas as a major insect pest of Xylocarpus granatum Koen. which is a Cri;cally Endangered mangrove species of Maharashtra.

Seri-‐biodiversity deals with the variability among sericigenous or silk yielding moths and their host plants (Srivastava and Thangavelu, 2005). List of 87 species of

host plants have been proposed for A. atlas. Shubhalaxmi and Chaturvedi (2004) have listed 19 host plants and 83 species by Peigler (1989). In this study, the authors tested the suitability of Terminalia catappa leaves since this is one of the commonly available species in Kolhapur, Maharashtra.

Materials and MethodsDuring surveys in Shahuwadi Taluka of Kohapur District (at A/P Ambarde, Tal. Shahuwadi, Dist. Kolhapur) a ma;ng pair of AUacus atlas was sighted on the bark of a Mango tree, Mangifera indica at the dusk on 14.11.2010. With minimum disturbance, the pair was collected and placed in a plas;c container of 2 lit. capacity and observed at home. Later on the pair was transferred to paper box (2x2x2 feet) so as to provide sufficient space. Female laid 52 eggs, of which some were in clusters of 7-‐9 and few were singly laid on inner surface of box. The eggs were harvested on second day and washed with mild soap water to clean and quickly dipped in 2% formalene to disinfect them. Eggs were spread over news-‐paper and placed in plas;c tray (1x1x1 feet) for further observa;ons. First and second instar larvae were reared in plas;c tray with fresh and succulent leaves and subsequent late age instars were reared in cartoon box fed with matured leaves of T. catappa. Bed cleaning was done for every two days.

Results and DiscussionArer incuba;on of 8 days first instar worms were hatched out on 23.11.2010 and started to eat egg shells. Succulent leaves of T. catappa were provided to the larvae with an interval of 6-‐10 hours. Literature survey was done on the report of host plants of A. atlas. But no previous report was cited on T. catappa as a larval food of A. atlas. Pupal period lasted for 44 days. At the ;me of pupal stage recorded temperature during day and night was 24 and 120C respec;vely.

Total indoor rearing of larvae was conducted at home and the results of present study (Table: 1, 2 & 3) are compared with related species described by (Veenakumari et al., 1992) and Jugale et al., (2010) who studied on AUacus mcmulleni and AUacus atlas respec;vely.




Descrip3on of immature stages (Plate 1)Egg (Fig. 1)Length 2.7 mm, width 2.5 mm (n=10). The oval egg, slightly flatened dorsoventrally were dull whi;sh in colour. Freshly laid eggs were orange-‐brown with adhesive fluid. Recorded incuba;on dura;on was 8 days.First instar (Fig. 2)Head 1.5 (± 0.04) mm in length, faint green in colour and body length 11 mm (± 0.78) and first instar lasted for 3 days.Second instar (Fig. 3)Immediately arer moult larvae fed on moulted skin as do all the other instars. Head 2.4 mm (± 0.09), green in colour. Second instar lasted for about 4 days and length of larvae was 26 mm (± 0.67).Third instar (Fig. 4)Head 3.6 mm (± 0.06) in length. Matured larvae measured 43 mm (± 0.84) in length. Third instar lasted for 8 days.Fourth instar (Fig. 5)Head 4.1 mm (± 0.03) in length. Matured larvae atended length of 80 mm (± 0.63). Fourth instar lasted for 9 days.Fi\h instar (Fig. 6)Head 6.0 mm (± 0.32) in length. Matured larvae measured 90 mm (±1.70) in length. Firh instar lasted for about 14 days. Pupa (Fig. 7 & 9)Length 38 mm, width 16 mm (n=10), deep brown in color and weighed about 3.928 gm (n=10).Cocoon (Fig. 10 & 11)It was coarse, grey-‐brown in color. Cocoons were found individually webbed on to leaf surfaces. In few instances two cocoons found together. No peduncle was observed. Mean length of cocoon was 64 mm (n=10) and its mean width was 25 mm (n=10). The mean weight of empty cocoon was 0.494 gm (n=10).Male adult (Fig. 12)Male wing expanse was 190 mm. As far as longevity is concerned adult male lived for 5 days (n=3). Female adult (Fig. 13)Recorded female wing expanse was 219 mm. It lived for about 15 days (n=2). According to Mani (1982) AUacus atlas is the largest living insect and atains a wing expanse of 270 mm in the female. Whereas according to Arora and Gupta (1979) Saturnids are known as Emperor moths or non-‐mulberry silkmoths. The largest moth in Asia is a Saturnid, the Atlas moth, with a wingspan of 290 mm.

FecundityMa;ng lasted for nearly 5 hours (n=2), then the female laid approximately 134 eggs which were in cluster of

13-‐22 and few of them were singly laid. The eggs were kept for further study with the author.

In the present study Terminalia catappa (Family: Combretaceae) has been reported as a new larval food plant of A. atlas. The results of the present study are consistent with observa;ons of Veenakumari et al., (1992) except number of instars and pupal dura;on and it might be due to clima;c condi;ons during present study. They reported six instars in A. mcmulleni whereas in the present study five instars were observed in A. atlas.

Acknowledgement:Author express deep sense of gra;tude to Dr. R. S. Peigler, Professor of Biology, Department of Biology, University of Incarnate Word, Texas, USA for his constant source of inspira;on throughout the present study. Authors shall fall short in their du;es, if fail to acknowledge the kind assistance given by SRA’s wife Sou. Savita Aland during whole indoor rearing of A. atlas.

ReferencesArora, G.S. & I.J. Gupta (1979). Taxonomic studies of some of the Indian non-‐mulberry silk moths (Lepidoptera:Saturniidae). Memoirs of Zoological Survey of India 16: 1-‐63.

Braby, M. & C. Wilson (2006). Threatened species of the Northern Territory: Atlas moth, AUacus wardi. Threatened species informa;on sheet, Northern Territory Government, Department of Natural Resources, Environment and The Arts.

Chen, X.M. & Y. Feng (2009). An IntroducLon on Insect Resources. Beijing: Science Press.

Dodd, W.D. (1935). Meanderings of a naturalist. The North Queensland Register.

Jugale, S.B., G.P. Bhawane & L.J. Bhosale, (2010). Major insect pests of Xylocarpus granatum Koen. A Cri;cally Endangered mangrove species of Maharashtra. The Bioscan 1: 257-‐268.

Jurriaanse, J. H. & J. Lindemans (1920). Indo-‐Australische Atacus-‐vormen. Tijds. Ent., 63: 87-‐95 pl. 11-‐13.

Lemaire, C. & J. Minet (1998). The Bombycoidea and their relaLves. In N. P. Kristensen (ed.). Lepidoptera, Moths and Buterflies. Vol. 1: Evolu;on, Systema;cs and Biogeography. Walter de Gruyter, Inc. Hawthome.

Li, M.L. (2005). Insect Resources. Beijing: China Forestry Press.

Mani, M.S. (1982). General Entomology (Third and Revised Edi;on). Oxford & IBH publishing Co. Pvt. Ltd., New Delhi. 912pp.

Michener, C.D. (1952). The Saturniidae (Lepidoptera) of the Western Hemisphere: Morphology, Phylogeny and Classifica;on. BulleLn of American Natural History Museum, 98: 335-‐502.


Nassig, W.A., R. E. J. Lempe & S. Kger (1996). The Saturniidae of Sumatra (Lepidoptera). Heterocera Sumatrana, 10: 3-‐10.

Navarro, A.F. (1911). Some local insects of economic importance. The Philippine Agricultural ScienLst 1: 32-‐35.

Palkar, S.B. (2008). A new record of host plant Embelia acuLpetalum of Atlas moth, AUacus atlas Linnaeus from Konkan. Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 105 (3): 357.

Peigler, R.S. (1989). A revision of the Indo-‐Australian genus AUacus. Lepidoptera Research Founda;on., Inc. Beverly Hills, California, xi+167pp.

Sahu, A.K. & B. B. Bindroo (2007). Wild silk moth biodiversity in the North Eastern region of India: Need for conserva;on. Indian Silk, 46: 16-‐19

Shubhalaxmi, V. & N. Chaturvedi (2004). Larval food plants of Emperor moths and Hawkmoths of Sanjay Gandhi Na;onal Park, Borivli, Mumbai (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae and Sphingidae). Journal of Bombay Natural History Society, 101 (1): 106-‐120.

Srivastava, P. K. & K. Thangavelu (2005). Sericulture and seri-‐biodiversity. Associated Publishing Company, New Delhi.

Veenakumar, K., P. Mohanraj & R.S. Peigler (1992). Life history of AUacus mcmulleni (Saturniidae) from the Andaman Islands, India. Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera, 31 (3-‐4): 169-‐179.

Yan, S.C. (2001). Resources Entomology, Shengyang: Northeast Forestry University Press.

Stages/Parameters

Larval instars (lengths)Larval instars (lengths)Larval instars (lengths)Larval instars (lengths)Larval instars (lengths)Larval instars (lengths) Cocoon (L x W)

Stages/Parameters I II III IV V VI

Cocoon (L x W)

nLength

±

1011

(0.78)

1026

(0.67)

1043

(0.84)

1080

(0.63)

1090

(1.70)

------

1064 x 25

(3.97 x 2.60)*n

Length±

312

(0.12)

418

(0.06)

423

(0.05)

630

(0.05)

740

(0.18)

860

(0.73)

374 x 39

0.6 x 0.5**n

Length±

------

------

------

------

------

--91

(0.2)

58 x 24(0.3 x 0.2)

* Attacus mcmulleni (Veenakumari et al., 1992), ** Attacus atlas (Jugale et al., 2010)

Table 1. Mean dimensions (in mm) of the various stages of A. atlas reared in captivity in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India

Table 2. Mean lengths (mm) of the head capsules of A. atlas reared in captivity in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India

Stages/Parameters

Larval instarsLarval instarsLarval instarsLarval instarsLarval instarsLarval instarsStages/Parameters I II III IV V VI

NLength

±

101.5

(0.04)

102.4

(0.09)

103.6

(0.06)

104.1

(0.03)

106.0

(0.32)

------

*nLength

±

111.4

(0.04)

061.9

(0.08)

092.5

(0.09)

103.5

(0.09)

114.9

(0.23)

------

* Attacus mcmulleni

Table 3. Observed duration (in days) of the various stages of A. atlas reared in captivity in Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India

Genera/Species

Egg/larval stagesEgg/larval stagesEgg/larval stagesEgg/larval stagesEgg/larval stagesEgg/larval stagesEgg/larval stages Pupa AdultAdultGenera/Species Egg I II III IV V VI Pupa Male Female

Attacus atlas 08 03 04 08 09 14 -- 44 05 15Attacus

mcmulleni -- 3.3 5.0 6.0 6.5 8.6 15.8 25.8 -- --


Odonates of North Orissa University Campus and adjoining areas, Orissa

Sunit Kr. Das1, S. D. Rout and H.K. SahuP.G. Department of Wildlife and Conserva;on Biology, North Orissa University, Sri Ramchandra Vihar, Takatpur, Baripada, Orissa, 757003, India

Email: [email protected]

Odonates occupy a vital posi;on in ecosystem and they are also an important and widespread component of freshwater ecosystems, being top predators (Corbet, 1962). According to Silsby (2001), eight superfamilies, 29 families and some 58 subfamilies of dragonflies for approximately 600 genera and 6000 named species have so far been described all over the world. Fraser (1933-‐36) dealt in detail with the odonate fauna of India including some species from Orissa. Prasad and Varshney (1995) gave a checklist of 499 species and subspecies of Indian odonates lis;ng three sub-‐ orders, 17 families, 139 genera. As recorded earlier 16 species of odonates were reported from Similipal Biosphere Reserve (Sethy and Siddiqi, 2007) and recently 92 species reported from this area (Nair, 2011). The study area is semi urban and located near to the Similipal Biosphere Reserve (SBR) of Orissa and urban areas are highly modified and complex landscapes, within which green or open areas are seen as valuable for human well being as well as wildlife (Picket et al., 2001). The most imminent threat to odonata species persistence is the loss of suitable habitat and breeding ground. Diversity and area of habitat will con;nue to decline as human popula;on increase and landscape change for agricultural prac;ces and developmental ac;vi;es. Therefore, this study was designed to get genuine informa;on about the odonata diversity of this par;cular area with rela;on to their occurrence inside the survey area.

Study areaThe study area includes North Orissa university (N.O.U) campus and its adjoining areas that lies between 21º55’01.1”-‐21º55’59.2”N and 86º45’07.53”-‐ 86º 46’36.2”,which is a semi urban area located 5 km. South from the district headquarters, Baripada in the district of Mayurbhanj, Orissa. The university campus encompasses 110 acre areas of land with varied habitat such as grasslands scatered with small patches of shrubs and the surrounding areas covered by agricultural fields, barren lands, gardens, open areas, home gardens, orchards, natural and ar;ficial water bodies. The eastern side of the campus atached with an ar;ficial water reservoir known as Ranibandh, which is the largest fresh water body exist inside the study area with historical significance.

MethodologyThe informa;on on Odonates were collected from September 2008 to August 2009 in all three seasons, viz. summer (March to June), monsoons (July to October) and winter (November to February) for a period of one year. Direct searching method was used, which include visual encounter surveys (Heyer et al., 1994) to know about the odonates. Mostly we used digital camera to take photographs for the iden;fica;on, but species were also randomly collected using net from different loca;ons. Collected odonates were iden;fied with the help of Subramanian (2009). Odonates were categorized into four groups depending upon their occurrence during the study period. Accordingly species observed 75-‐100% of survey days were categorized as very common (VC), 50-‐75% as common (CO), 25-‐50% as occasional (OC) and below 25% as rare (RA).

Result and discussionThis study records distribu;on of 29 species of odonates from NOU and its adjoining areas with 23 genera and 6 families. A detailed systema;c list of odonates is presented in Table.1. Of these odonates family Libellulidae (18) is well represented followed by Coenagrionidae (6), Gomphidae (2), Calopterygidae (1), Les;dae (1) and Aeshnidae (1). On the basis of direct observa;ons, out of 29 species 12 are considered as very common, 10 common, 6 occasional, and 1 rare species inside the study area. Among the collected Libelluids, Pantala flavescens (Fabricius) and Orthetrum sabina sabina (Drury) were more abundant during monsoon season. In case of Zygopterans Ischnura aurora (Brauer) was more abundant than the others inside the study area during all seasons. The family and species level classifica;on follows Subramanian, 2009. During winter Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur) was found to be the most abundant species. The prey of the adults consists mostly of the harmful insects of crops, orchards and forests and thus has a regulatory impact on the agro-‐forestry. Developmental ac;vi;es l ike construc;on of building, road, and stone crushers in the peripheral areas have directly impact on the popula;on of the odonates as the habitat and food is being destroyed by such ac;vi;es. Public par;cipa;on and awareness is required to conserve these odonates within their habitats.


AcknowledgementWe want to acknowledge Dr. K.A. Subramanian, Zoological Survey of India for his valuable sugges;ons and help in species iden;fica;on. The first author also like to thanks Mr. Kamal Azad, Wildlife Biologist, Aaranyak (N.G.O.) and other classmates of the Department of Wildlife and Conserva;on Biology and Zoology Department, for their helps during field data collec;on and manuscript prepara;on.

ReferencesFraser, F.C. (1933). The Fauna of BriLsh-‐India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata. Vol. I. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London; 436 pp.

Fraser, F.C. (1934). The Fauna of BriLsh-‐India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata. Vol. II. Taylor and Francis Ltd.,London; 442 pp.

Fraser, F.C. (1936). The fauna of BriLsh-‐India including Ceylon and Burma, Odonata. Vol. III. Taylor and Francis Ltd., London; 488 pp.

Heyer, W.R. , Donnelly, M.A., McDiarmid, R.W., Hayek, L.-‐A.C., and Foster, M.S., eds., (1994). Measuring and monitoring biological diversity_Standard methods for amphibians: Washington, D.C., Smithsonian Ins;tu;on Press; 364 pp.

Nair, M.V. (2011). Dragonflies and Damselflies of Orissa and Eastern India, Wildlife Organisa;on, Forest and Environment Department, Government of Orissa; 254pp.

Picke`, S. T. A., Cadenasso, M. L., Grove, J.M., Nilon, C. H., Pouyat, R. V., Zipperer, and W.C.(2001). Urban ecological systems: linking terrestrial ecological, physical, and socioeconomic components of metropolitan areas. Animal Rev. Ecology Syst; 32:127– 57.

Prasad, M. and Varshney R.K. (1995). A checklist of the Odonata of India including Data on larval studies. Oriental Insects 29: 385-‐428.

Sethy, P.G.S and Siddiqi, S. Z. (2007). Observa;on on Odonates in Similipal Biosphere Reserve, Mayurbhanj. ZOOS` PRINT Journal 22(11):2893-‐2894.

Silsby, J. (2001). Dragonflies of the world. Natural History Museum in associa;on with CSIRO Publishing, UK and Europe;200pp

Subramanian, K. A. (2009). India-‐A Lifescape, Dragonflies of India-‐A Field Guide, Vigyan Prasar, India Offset Press, New Delhi; 180 pp.

Subramanian, K. A. (2009). A checklist of Odonata (Insecta) of India, Zoological Survey of India, Western Regional Sta;on, Pune, Maharastra, India. 36pp.

Watson, J. A. L., Arthington, A. H. & Conrick, D. L.(1982). Effect of sewage effluent on dragonflies (Odonata) of Bulimba Creek, Brisbane. Aust. J. Mar. Freshwat. Res.,33, 517-‐28.

!

Vestalis gracilis Lestes elatus


S. No.

Common English Name Family / Scientific Name Occurrence

I Darners Aeshnidae1 Blue-tailed Green Darner Anax guttatus (Burmeister, 1839) OCII Clubtails Gomphidae2 Common Clubtail Ictinogomphus rapax Rambur,1842 OC3 Common Hooktail Paragomphus lineatus (Selys,1850) OCIII Skimmers Libellulidae4 Trumpet Tail Acisoma panorpoides Rambur,1842 CO5 Ditch Jewel Brachythemis contaminata (Fabr.,1793) VC6 Granite Ghost Bradinopyga geminata (Rambur,1842) CO7 Rudy Marsh Skimmer Crocothemis servilia (Drury,1770) VC8 Black-tipped Ground Skimmer Diplacodes nebulosa (Fabricius, 1793) CO9 Ground Skimmer Diplacodes trivialis (Rambur,1842) VC10 Fulvous Forest Skimmer Neurothemis fulvia (Drury,1773) CO11 Pied Paddy Skimmer Neurothemis tullia (Drury,1773) OC12 Crimson Tailed Marsh Hawk Orthetrum pruinosum (Rambur,1842) VC13 Green Marsh Hawk Orthetrum sabina (Drury,1770) VC14 Wandering Glider Pantala flavescens (Fabr.,1798) VC15 Yellow-Tailed Ashy Skimmer Potamarcha congener (Rambur,1842) VC16 Rufous Marsh Glider Rhodothemis rufa (Rambur,1842) CO17 Common Picture Wing Rhyothemis variegate Linn.,1763 CO18 Coral-Tailed Cloud Wing Tholymis tillarga (Fabr.,1798) OC19 Red Marsh Trotter Tramea basilaris Kirby,1889 VC20 Black Stream Glider Trithemis festiva (Rambur,1842) CO21 Long-legged Marsh Glider Trithemis pallidinervis (Kirby, 1889) VCIV Glories Calopterygidae22 Clear-Winged Forest Glory Vestalis gracilis (Rambur, 1842) RAV Marsh Darts Coenagrionidae23 Pigmy Dartlet Agriocnemis pygmaea (Rambur, 1842) VC24 Coromandel Marsh Dart Ceriagrion coromandelianum (Fabricius, 1798) VC25 Rusty Marsh Dart Ceriagrion olivaceum Laidlaw, 1914 CO26 Golden Dartlet Ischnura aurora (Brauer,1865) VC27 Senegal Golden Dartlet Ischnura senegalensis (Ramb.,1842) CO28 Blue Grass Dartlet Pseudagrion microcephalum (Rambur,1842) COVI Spreadwings Lestidae29 Emerald Spread wing Lestes elatus Hagen in Selys,1862 OC

VC-Very Common, CO- Common, OC- Occasional, RA- Rare

Table.1: Checklist of Odonates of North Orissa University Campus and it’s adjoining areas, Orissa.

!!

Paragomphus lineatus Acisoma panorpoides


Newsletter of the Invertebrate Conservation and Information Network of South Asia (ICINSA) and Invertebrate Special Interest Group (ISIG) of Conservation Breeding Specialist Group, South Asia. ISIG

coordinated by Dr. B.A. Daniel, Scientist, Zoo Outreach Organisation

Editor: B.A. DanielEditorial Advisor: Sally Walker & Sanjay Molur

BUGS `R' ALL is published by ZOO and CBSG South Asia as a service to invertebrate conservation community. This issue is published with the financial support of Zoological Society of London.

For communication contact:The Editor, ZOO/CBSG, S. Asia office

P. Box. 1683, Peelamedu, Coimbatore, 641 004, TN, India. Ph: +91 422 2561 087; Fax: 2563 269; Email: [email protected]

Na;onal Level Hands-‐on Training Workshop on Principles and Prac;ces of Animal Taxonomy with Special Reference to Insects

A one week Na;onal level hands-‐on training workshop on principles and prac;ces of animal taxonomy with special reference to Insects’ is being organized by Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, Calicut, Kerala. The one week residen;al workshop is intended to educate and popularize animal taxonomy – the science of discovering, naming and classifying animals. To demonstrate and communicate the underlying concepts in taxonomy, the workshop will focus on standard techniques and procedures prac;ced in the science of Entomology. The subject area specialists of repute will deliver presenta;ons/lectures and also impart hands-‐on training on collec;on, preserva;on, cura;on and iden;fica;on techniques, with regard to significant insect groups like Lepidoptera (buterflies & moths), Odonata (dragon flies & damselflies), Mantodea (Praying man;ds), Hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps), Coleoptera (beetles), Diptera (flies), Orthoptera (Grass-‐hoppers) and Aqua;c insects (including Hemiptera). A one-‐ day field visit will be organized to Vanaparvam Biodiversity Conserva;on Park, Kakkavayal, Calicut, to get acquainted with the procedures and techniques related to inventorying insects. Modern trends in insect taxonomy like molecular systema;cs will also be dealt with. The medium of instruc;ons will be English.

The workshop aims: To introduce the principles, prac;ces and scope of animal taxonomy; to Impart prac;cal/hands-‐on training in standard taxonomic procedures; to develop basic skills in Iden;fying the Insect fauna

Target Groups: Post graduates and young researchers in the field of Zoology, Wildlife Biology and Life Sciences.

The workshop will be conducted at Zoological Survey of India (ZSI), Western Ghat Regional Centre (WGRC), Calicut-‐6, Kerala, from 27th February – March 3rd, 2012.

Eligibility Criteria*: 1. Age: Applicants should be below 35 years as on 1.1. 2012; 2. Educa;onal Qualifica;ons and Experience: Post Graduates in Zoology, Wildlife Biology and Life Sciences. (At least one year research experience desirable. *Ph. D holders are not encouraged to apply.)

A total of 25 par;cipants will be selected on all-‐India basis, according to the above criteria. Selected par;cipants will be asked to submit copies of their Cer;ficates. The par;cipants will be provided a second class to and fro fare by train, from the place of their residence in India to the workshop venue, on producing valid travel documents. Free dormitory accommoda;on (separate for men and women) will be provided to all par;cipants.

RegistraLon/Course Fee: Nil

Applica;on form that is to be filled and submited can be downloaded from the link provided (htp://zsi.gov.in/right_menu/29.11.11/ZSI/Index.html). The duly filled applica\on form should reach the Course coordinator on or before 10th January 2012, by email only. (In case of any query, par;cipants may please contact the Course coordinator).

List of selected par;cipants names of selected par;cipants will be listed at this website by 25th January 2012.

Contact The Course Coordinator, Na;onal Workshop on Animal Taxonomy,Zoological Survey of India, Western Ghat Regional Centre, P.O. Eranhipalam, Calicut-‐673006, Kerala, India,Ph. 0495-‐2770101 Ext. 211; Fax: 0495-‐ 2771929. Email: [email protected]



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