Diversity of Moths (Lepidoptera) with New Faunistic Records from North East Jharkhand, India

Jharkhand is a state in eastern India, carved out of the southern part of Bihar on 15 November 2000. The state shares its border with the states of Bihar to the North, Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh to the West, Odisha to the South, and West Bengal to the East. It is divided into 24 districts under five divisions. North-East Jharkhand comes under the Santhal Paragna division (Figure 1). Forest covers of north-east Jharkhand is 1953 km2 and the vegetation varies from rich forests to sparsely covered grasslands. The main plants species of forests are Sal (Shorea robusta), Asan (Terminalia tomentosa), Dhaura (Anogeissus latifolia), Gamhar (Gmelina arborea) and Mahua (Madhuca indica) etc. The only protected area present in North-East Jharkhand is Udhwa Bird Sanctuary (surveyed locality) (24058’23.02”N & 87049’20.30”E) which also represents the only Bird Sanctuary of the state. Udhwa bird sanctuary is situated in Sahibganj district having an area of 5.65 km2. Avian fauna of this sanctuary is Gull, Jacana, Teal, Cormorant, Dabchick, Darter, Lapwing, Plover, Wagtail, Egret, Heron, Ibis, Stork, Blue Rock Pigeon, Lark, bee-eater, Sparrow, Myna, Pipit, Brahminy, Kite, Fishing Eagle, Hawk, Vulture, Swallow, Kingfisher, Drongo, Indian Foller and Parakeet (Nigam et al., 2015). Another surveyed locality is Masanjor Dam (Figure 2) which is situated in Dumka district and it is also rich in forest cover. There is hilly forest that surrounded the dam. Invertebrate fauna of this area remained unexplored so far. Therefore, a survey was undertaken to study the moth diversity of this area which reflects the presence of 81 species under 70 genera belonging to 14 different families of moths. A total of 20 species are reported for the first time from Jharkhand as well as from Gangetic plains region. Abstract