India Achieves Historic Biodiversity Milestone as ZSI Completes National Catalogue of Butterflies and Moths

Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) has completed the India’s first-ever complete inventory of the Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths). This historic scientific achievement was announced on July 30, 2026, it includes total 13,703 species of butterflies and moths found in India. The ZSI scientists took 12 years to compile this inventory, which would serve as a taxonomical reference for biodiversity conservation, ecological management, impact of climate change, and future scientific work. It also improves India’s standing in the list of mega-diverse countries with proper and updated listing for one of the important groups of insects.

What is ZSI Lepidoptera Catalogue?

The Indian Lepidoptera catalogue is a detailed scientific resource that lists all butterfly and moth species found in India.

The work was supervised by Dr. Navneet Singh and Dr. Rahul Joshi of the Zoological Survey of India which falls under the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change. This project took over 12 years and involved field surveys, museum studies, specimen audit, and literature surveys.

The December issue of the international journal Zootaxa carries the volume of the catalogue which concludes a series of 22 volumes.

Important Features of the Catalogue

The finished catalogue gives the new taxonomic benchmark for Indian Lepidoptera.

Key Discoveries

In India, there are 13703 butterfly and moth species.

They fall into the,

• 3705 genera
• 240 subfamilies
• 102 families
• 31 superfamilies

Indian Lepidoptera consist of around 825% of the world butterfly and moth species.

The finished publication made it possible to classify the remaining 1689 species and made clear the long existing taxonomic questions.

India Emerges as a Global Hub for Geometroidea Moths

The crucial achievements of the project include the meticulous documentation of Geometroidea superfamily.

India has,

• 2,205 Geometroidea species
• 479 genera
• 13 subfamilies
• 4 families

This accounts for nearly 8.80% of the total known Geometroidea species worldwide proving India’s significance in moth biodiversity.

Family-wise Distribution

• Geometridae – 2,100 species
• Uraniidae – 95 species
• Epicopeiidae – 9 species
• Pseudobistonidae – 1 species

The Sematuridae family is absent in India, as it occurs primarily in the Americas.

Importance of Butterflies and Moths

Butterflies and moths are not only beautiful creatures but also play important roles in the natural ecosystem.

They can be viewed as the,

• Pollinators of wild flora.
• Herbivorous creatures that affect plant communities.
• Food for several animals from birds to amphibians.
• Indicators of environmental change and state of ecosystems.
• Species with an impact in agriculture and forestry due to both beneficial and pest interactions.

These bugs are excellent in monitoring ecosystem and climate changes because of their quick response to changes in their environment.