Moths of Superfamily Pyraloidea (Insecta: Lepidoptera) of Gangau Wildlife Sanctuary, Panna district of Madhya Pradesh, Central India

Abstract

The diversity of moth superfamily Pyraloidea in various localities of forest areas of Gangau Wildlife Sanctuary of Panna and Chhatarpur districts were studied during 2022 to 2024.  About more than 880 moth specimens were collected to prepare inventory using light trap. A total of 46 species of two families Crambidae 42 (91.30%) and Pyralidae 4 (8.69%) in 6 different subfamilies were found. Among them, the subfamily Spilomelinae was found having highest species richness with 31 (67.39%) species followed by Acentropinae 5 (10.86%), Pyraustinae 5 (10.86%), Pyralinae 3 (6.52%), Phycitinae (2.17%) and Musotiminae 1 (2.17%).The moth community was dominated by the Crambidae family, which accounted for about 91.30% of the total species recorded in the region, while the remaining Pyralidae family accounted for only 8.69%. There are a few casual reports on a checklist of moths from the reserve forest and scattered records of moths in other conservation areas and other areas reported as forest, agricultural, and vegetable pests. The inventory of moths prepared in this study is the first of its kind in the Gangau Wildlife Sanctuary of Madhya Pradesh.