Archive · 3 Aug 2026
India Completes First Comprehensive Butterfly and Moth Catalogue
Scientists in India have finished a big book that lists every kind of butterfly and moth in the country.
The book has 22 parts and names 13,703 different species.
It was made by the Zoological Survey of India and published in a science journal called Zootaxa.
The book also talks about a special group of moths called Geometroidea, which has 2,205 species in India.
This work helps scientists keep track of wildlife, protect animals, and study how climate change affects nature.
India completes its first comprehensive catalogue of butterflies and moths, documenting 13,703 species.
The catalogue spans 22 volumes and was compiled by the Zoological Survey of India under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change.
The final volume, authored by Dr Rahul Joshi and Dr Navneet Singh, was published in the journal Zootaxa.
India hosts about 8.25% of the world’s known Lepidoptera diversity.
The catalogue includes a detailed account of the Geometroidea superfamily, covering 2,205 species.
- Who
- Zoological Survey of India, Dr Dhriti Banerjee, Dr Rahul Joshi, Dr Navneet Singh
- What
- Completion of India's first comprehensive catalogue of butterflies and moths
- When
- After more than 12 years of work, final volume published in 2024
- Where
- India, compiled by the Zoological Survey of India
- Why
- To provide an authoritative taxonomic reference for biodiversity research, conservation, and ecological monitoring
- Total species catalogued
- 13,703
- Number of volumes
- 22
- Published in
- Zootaxa
- Geometroidea species
- 2,205
- Global Lepidoptera diversity represented
- 8.25%