A preliminary checklist of the family Sphingidae (Lepidoptera: Bombycoidea) recorded from Shirui hills, Manipur, India. (original) (raw)

2021, Records of the Zoological Survey of India.

The northeast Indian state Manipur lies in between 23°83'-25°68' N and 93°03'-94°78' E bounded by Nagaland on the north, Assam on the west, on the south, and along the east with Myanmar sharing about 352 km long international border. It covers a total geographical area of 22,327 km 2 of which 17,418 km 2 (78.01%) is under forest cover. Geographically, Manipur is divided into mountain ranges running north to south and a central plain-the valley of Imphal. The altitude of hills ranges from 833m to 3017m. The Manipur is part of the eastern Himalayan Biodiversity Hotspot and considered to be rich in floral and faunal diversity. The region is often known as a hot spot of biodiversity of economically important insects. An attempt was made to know the species diversity of Sphingidae inhabiting the Temperate forest of Shirui hills, Ukhrul district Manipur. Sphingidae are medium to large-sized, heavy-bodied moths with long, narrow, pointed triangular forewing and a short, smaller hind wing which makes them agile fliers. The large eye, powerful thorax, and sharply pointed abdomen, the graceful, high-bred appearance of the whole creature, can hardly be mistaken (Bell and Scott, 1937