Diversity of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometroidea) from northernmost Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India, with notes on range extension.

Data Records

The data in this occurrence resource has been published as a Darwin Core Archive (DwC-A), which is a standardized format for sharing biodiversity data as a set of one or more data tables. The core data table contains 277 records.

This IPT archives the data and thus serves as the data repository. The data and resource metadata are available for download in the downloads section. The versions table lists other versions of the resource that have been made publicly available and allows tracking changes made to the resource over time.

Versions

The table below shows only published versions of the resource that are publicly accessible.

How to cite

Researchers should cite this work as follows:

Gurule S A, Rajput J A, Shere-Kharwar A S (2025). Diversity of geometrid moths (Lepidoptera: Geometroidea) from northernmost Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India, with notes on range extension.. Version 1.1. Gokhale Education Society. Occurrence dataset. https://cloud.gbif.org/asia/resource?r=geometridae&v=1.1

Rights

Researchers should respect the following rights statement:

The publisher and rights holder of this work is Gokhale Education Society. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC-BY-NC 4.0) License.

GBIF Registration

This resource has been registered with GBIF, and assigned the following GBIF UUID: 129dd4e0-6453-43de-ad3f-174929e772a0.  Gokhale Education Society publishes this resource, and is itself registered in GBIF as a data publisher endorsed by Participant Node Managers Committee.

Keywords

Occurrence; Diversity; Moths; Geometroidea; Western Ghats; Range extension

Contacts

Geographic Coverage

The dataset covers a geographic range extending from the northernmost point at 20.3911° N, 73.9167° E to the southernmost point at 19.5290° N, 73.7500° E, and from the easternmost point at 20.3817° N, 74.0300° E to the westernmost point at 20.1036° N, 73.3883° E.

Taxonomic Coverage

No Description available

Temporal Coverage

Project Data

We present the first comprehensive checklist of geometrid moths from the northernmost Western Ghats of Maharashtra, India a biogeographically significant yet underexplored region. Surveys conducted across eight localities between 2022 and 2024 recorded 286 individuals representing 77 species and 9 genus-level morphotypes within the superfamily Geometroidea. These taxa span 46 genera, 20 tribes, and 7 subfamilies under two families, namely Geometridae (73 species) and Uraniidae (4 species). Sampling was carried out across an elevational gradient of 309–1243 m asl using non-invasive light-sheet methods supplemented with opportunistic photographic observations. The most species-rich subfamilies were Ennominae (29 species), Sterrhinae (22 species), and Geometrinae (17 species). Genera such as Scopula, Chiasmia, and Comibaena were frequently encountered, indicating ecological generalism and strong phototactic behavior. Notably, three species—Idaea protensa, Cleora cornaria, and Ophthalmitis herbidaria—are reported for the first time from Peninsular India, thus extending their known distributional ranges. In addition, range extensions of eight species to the northernmost Western Ghats in Maharashtra and a total of thirty species to the northern Western Ghats were recorded.

The personnel involved in the project:

Sampling Methods

Random sampling was carried out between July 2021 and February 2024 across 10 sites in the northernmost Western Ghats of Maharashtra (309–1243 m asl). Moths were primarily sampled using a non-invasive light-sheet method (mercury vapor and UV lights), supplemented by opportunistic photographic observations. Randomized temporal and habitat-based sampling ensured broad representation of species diversity with minimal collection bias.

Method step description:

1. Step 1: The moth was collected from multiple sites based on habitat variation and accessibility i.e Kalmuste, Belgaon Dhaga, Saptashrungi Vani, Kalsubai, Kasara, Peth, Waghere Harsul, for morphological and molecular (DNA barcoding) studies for biodiversity assessment.
2. Step 2: Light traps, LepiLed, and sweep nets was used for nocturnal moth collection.
3. Step 3: Moths were captured in bottles, and each specimen was labelled with locality, date, and collection code.
4. Step 4: Specimens were spread, and preserved using entomological pins, and stored in insect boxes to maintain and to avoid contamination or degradation naphthalene balls were placed for identification purpose.
5. Step 5: Each specimen had detailed metadata: Locality, Date, time of collection Environmental conditions (temperature, humidity, weather), Collector’s name or team, for accurate analysis.
6. Step 6: Meta Data All metadata and specimen information were entered into a excels sheet. Repeated entries and errors were checked for statistical analysis or publication.

Additional Metadata