Moth (Insecta: Lepidoptera) fauna of Sariska Tiger Reserve, Rajasthan, India

Survey to assess moth diversity was carried out in Sariska Tiger Reserve of Rajasthan in 2019 from June to November. Total 16 species were recorded under 15 genera, belonging to 5 families for the first time from Sariska Tiger Reserve. Of these, 12 species viz. Eudocima materna Linnaeus, 1767; Eudocima phalonia Linnaeus, 1763; Dysgonia stuposa (Fabricius, 1794); Euproctis divisia Walker, 1855; Achaea janata Linnaeus, 1758; Acherontia styx Westwood, 1847; Daphnis nerii Linnaeus, 1758; Hippotion rosetta (Swinhoe, 1892); Agrius convolvuli Linnaeus, 1758; Nephele hespera Fabricius, 1775; Theretra oldenlandiae (Fabricius, 1775); Caligula lindia Moore, 1865 were first time reports from the state. Moth species were collected with the help of a light sheet system operated every night from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am. Ethyl acetate fumes were used to kill collected speciemens and processed as per standard strategies in Lepidopterology. The identification of moths was carried out with the help of identification keys, standard reference keys. Family Erebidae and Sphingidae are represented by six species each, followed by Saturniidae represented by two species, Noctuidae and Crambidae represented by one species each. This study will improve our understanding of Sariska’s biodiversity and be used to develop strategies for the conservation of moth diversity.


Introduction
The order Lepidoptera comprises of skippers, butterflies and moths. According to the recent study, 1, 65,000 species of moths have been reported globally (Khan and Perveen, 2015), among which 12,000 species of moths have been reported from India (Chandra and Nema, 2007). Moths play an important role in natural ecosystem, such as agricultural pests (Sharma and Bisen, 2013), food for various organisms such birds, bats and insects' species, night pollinators (Macgregor et al., 2015). Moths are widely accepted as the most sensitive indicators determining the quality of environment and changes occurring in it (Thomas, 2005). They also serve as research models for studying biodiversity conservation, evolution, genetics, ethology and genetics because of taxonomically well-known and quick identification nature (Samways, 2007). The dramatic decrease of moths is believed to have drastic effects on birds, bats and plants due to key stone role of moths in an ecosystem (Wickramasinghe et al., 2004;Jonasan et al., 2013).
In Indian sub-continent lepidopteran fauna were started by Linnaeus (1758) Hampson (1892Hampson ( -1896 was one of the finest works on Indian and exotic moths, which was succeeded by Vol V. on Sphingidae by Bell and Scott (1937). Snellen and Elwes (1890) published a catalogue on Pyralidae of Sikkim, collected by Elwes & Moller. Later on, Hampson (1903Hampson ( , 1918Hampson ( , 1919 published supplementary paper on new moths collected by Mons. Sevastopulo (1965) reported moth fauna of Kolkata. Barlow (1982) studied and reported moth fauna of South East Asia. Gupta et al. (1984) published detailed description on Lymantridae of India. Mandal and Ghosh (1997); Mandal and Maulik (1997); Ghosh andChoudhury (1997), andBhattacharya (1997) studied Heteroceran fauna of West Bengal. Arora (1983) reported moth fauna of Andaman & Nicobar Island. Mandal and Ghosh (1991) described some moth species from Tripura. Kirti and Sodhi, (2001) reported 113 species of Pyralidae moths from North-East part of India. Ghosh, (2003) reported 525 species of moths from Sikkim. Chandra (2007) reported 142 species of moths from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh belonging to 11 families. Gurule et al. (2010;2011;2013a) reported moth fauna from North Maharshtra. In further studies Gurule (2013b) reported 405 species from North Maharashtra. Chandra and Sambath (2013) reported 102 species of moths from Tawang district of Arunachal Pradesh. Gogoi et al. (2014) reported 104 species of moths from Arunachal Pradesh. Uniyal et al. (2016) reported 169 species of Geometrid moths from different protected areas of Uttarakhand. Sondhi and Sondhi (2016)  India exhibits high diversity of moth fauna. Several studies have been carried out to explore moth fauna of Rajasthan. However, large area of Rajasthan is yet to be unexplored. To date, no comparable studies on moth diversity have been conducted in Rajasthan, India. In this study, we investigated the moth diversity in the tiger reserve of Rajasthan. Due to our study, a preliminary checklist of moth species was generated, which will probably serve as baseline for other researchers.

Study area
The study was conducted during 2019 from March to November in Sariska Tiger Reserve of Alwar District, Rajasthan. Sariska Tiger Reserve is located at 27°23'30"N, 76°22'32"E, having total area of 881 km 2 . It forms a part of the Alwar district of Rajasthan and is nestled amidst the picturesque Aravalli Hill Range of Rajasthan. The Reserve is immensely rich in flora and fauna, and is famous for Royal Bengal Tiger. Sariska was declared wildlife sanctuary in year 1955 and became the Tiger reserve later in the year 1978, making it a part of India's Project Tiger. According to Champioan and Seth (1968) forest type reserve is tropical dry deciduous with dominant plant species Anogeissus pendula. Rajasthan is globally known for diverse flora and fauna (Shahabuddin and Kumar, 2006;Dashahre et al., 2014). Three sites were chosen for sampling viz. Kalighati, Karnakabas and Slopka inside the reserve based on different habitats and GPS coordinates of each site were noted (Figures 1 and 2).

Collection and preservation of moths
Legal permits required were obtained from Rajasthan Forest Department. The selected sites inside the reserve were surveyed with light sheet to assess moth species. A white cloth sheet (4×3 m) was illuminated using Mercury Vapour lamp (250 watt) used as light sheet. Light sheet was operated each night from 9:00 pm to 2:00 am. The collected specimen was killed by ethyl acetate fumes and brought to laboratory for further processing. The killed specimens were pinned and spread using spreading board and preserved dry. Dry preservation was done in fumigated entomological boxes and stored in the insect boxes at Zoology Department of Aligarh Muslim University.

Results
During the study 104 specimens of moths pertaining to 05 families were collected from the study area. ⋒ ⋓ , 104-106 mm. Male: Head and thorax are greenish-grey; abdomen orange. Forewings greenish grey with very numerous faint striated reddish lines; three rufous spots at the end of cell; a dark oblique line from near apex to center of inner margin.
Female: Forewings more prominently striated with rufous; the silvery patches below and beyond cell very large and conjoined, crossed by white streaks above vein 2 and beyond the cell. ⋒ ⋓ , 94-110 mm. Male: Head and thorax are red-brown suffused with plum color; abdomen orange. Forewings red-brown usually with a greenish tinge and irrorated with dark specks. Hindwings are orange with a large black lunule beyond the lower angle of cell.
Female: Forewings much more variegated and striated with dark red-brown; the reniform dark and sending a spur along median nervure to below the orbicular speck; a triangular white mark usually present on the post medial line below vein 3. Hind wings are similar to male. Diagnosis. Expanse: 80-120 mm. Head, thorax, and a streak down the vertex of abdomen grey; abdomen with lateral transverse bands of pink and black to each segment. Forewings grey, with black streaks below veins 2 and 3; a highly dentate dark postmedial line met by an irregular black streak from the apex. Hind wings are grey; antemedial, medial, and postmedial piceous bands, the two-former meeting at anal angle, the two latter lunulate.  Diagnosis. Expanse: 140-182 mm. Head, thorax, and abdomen white. Forewings very pale green, white at base; a dark pink costal fascia, darkest along subcostal nervure; an outwardly-oblique pale yellow antemedial line; dark red-brown lunule at end of a cell, with a grey line on it, bounding around ochreous spot inwardly with the pinkish center. Hindwings are similar to the fore wing; the central portion of the tail pinkish.

Discussion
In the present study of tiger reserve, different habitats were accessed for moth diversity. During the field investigations, mixed riparian forest was highly diverse represented by 8 species, slope forest with moderately diverse represented by 5 species and scrub forest represented by 3 species. The most species rich families were Family Erebidae (05 genera; 06 species) and Sphingidae (06 genera; 06 species), Saturniidae (02 genera; 02 species), Noctuidae (01 genera; 01 species), and Crambidae (01 genera; 01 species). The high species richness of the family Erebidae and Sphingidae can be attributed due to the presence of a large number of grasslands and forests throughout the reserve. Lower species richness of the other families could be improved by comprehensive periodical surveys.
Moths constitute majority of Lepidoptera, and play a pivotal role in maintaining ecological balance of an ecosystem. Due to the anthropogenic activities, there is a loss of biodiversity at an alarming rate. Therefore, our prime priority should be to explore the undiscovered moth fauna, and to report floral and faunal components from biodiverse rich pockets at regional and national level, which will ultimately add up to the biodiversity of our Nation. Moths contemplate have been advancing at a moderate pace in our nation because of lack of literature and expertise. The moths, which constitute majority of the Lepidoptera species, don't enjoy the same enthusiasm as butterflies (Scoble, 1992). Most of the moth species are yet to be described, and if described, information present on them in terms of distribution and host plants are poor (Janzen, 1998). Moth Fauna of Rajasthan is very poorly known. Prior to this study, only two studies have been carried out in different parts of Rajasthan for exploring moth diversity. In addition, no study till yet has been carried out in Sariska Tiger Reserve. Sharma (2011) explored the Aravalli Hills of Rajasthan and the lepidopterous insects associated with vegetables and reported 35 species of moths belonging to 11 families from different regions of Aravalli ranges of Rajasthan from September, 2008 to February 2011. Most of the moths belong to the family Crambidae followed by Noctuidae. Sharma (2014) reported 54 species of moths belonging to 10 families from different areas of Aravalli Hill Ranges of Rajasthan, with families Noctuidae and Crambidae dominant in the area.

Conclusions
The present study reported 16 species of moths belonging to 05 families for the first time in the study area. Yet more investigation and detailed long-term survey is needed to yield significant result of faunal diversity of moth. Sincere efforts towards faunistic survey for moth diversity will enrich the moth fauna of the Rajasthan.