A team of researchers have spotted a new moth species and rediscovered another not seen in India in over a century at the Tale Wildlife Sanctuary (TWS) in Arunachal Pradesh.
The researchers, two from Dehradun-based Titli Trust, two from Bengaluru-based National Centre for Biological Sciences and one from Pune discovered the two species in August last year, Hindustan Times reported.
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The findings were published recently in Zootaxa, a peer-reviewed scientific journal, appeared from Auckland in New Zealand.
“The new moth species that we discovered belongs to the rare genus ‘Metallolophia’, of which only 16 species are known globally and three in India. We have named it ‘Metallolophia taleensis’ after the Tale wildlife sanctuary where it was discovered,” said Sanjay Sondhi of Titli Trust.
According to the researchers, ‘Metallolophia taleensis’ can be distinguished from other species in the same genus by the presence of prominent oval black-edged oval green spot on upperside forewing and smaller spot on hindwing.
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The new species has been recorded at the Tale wildlife sanctuary only in the month of August so far.
It has not been seen at any other location in any other month and nothing is known about its life history yet.