India is home to 13,703 species of lepidoptera — butterflies and moths — which is about 8.25% of the total lepidoptera found across the globe.

Scientists of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) have come out with a detailed Catalogue of Lepidoptera (Butterflies & Moths) of India which has been published in peer reviewed journal Zootaxa.

ZSI scientists Navneet Singh and Rahul Joshi took almost 12 years to complete the monumental work of cataloguing, field exploration, museum curation, and rigorous literature verification.

“There have been attempts to classify and catalogue lepidoptera for over 100 years. There are 13,703 species of butterflies and moths across 3,705 genera, 240 subfamilies, 102 families, and 31 superfamilies,” Mr. Singh said.

Of the 13,703 species of lepidoptera 1,417 species are butterflies, and the remaining 12,286 are moths, Mr. Singh said.

The scientific work bridges critical taxonomic gaps that have persisted for more than 100 years, since the first historical attempts to document the region’s insect fauna, a Press Information Bureau release stated.

“It firmly positions India among a select group of megadiverse nations possessing a fully updated, centralized, and authoritative baseline inventory of its butterfly and moth diversity,” the release said.

Butterflies and moths play crucial roles in maintaining ecological equilibrium, serving as essential herbivores, detritivores, and pollinators, while acting as vital food resources for birds, bats, and other insectivores, the ZSI scientists said.

“These catalogue volumes will serve as a vital national asset for biodiversity research, ecological monitoring, and global conservation strategies. Such comprehensive catalogues ensure these species are given an authoritative voice, a clear legal identity, and a permanent place in scientific history,” Dhriti Banerjee, Director, ZSI, said.

Among the 13,703 species of lepidoptera, the scientists have identified and catalogued 2,205 species of Geometroidea, nocturnal pollinators taking over the ‘night shift’ when daytime butterflies rest. These 2,205 species of Geometroidea have been found across 479 genera, 13 subfamilies, and four families — accounting for 8.80% of the world’s known species in this superfamily.

Published - August 02, 2026 09:14 pm IST