Some of the most beautiful moths I have seen during my study of the Moths of Kalatope sanctuary, fall into these four families. I remember catching sight of the ‘Luna moth’ caught under a piece of wood and wondering if it was dead or alive… gently prising it out and seeing the slight flutter of life which caused no end of joy for seeing the beautiful creature live… I did not know if it had any defence mechanisms against the birds which could attack it, so hid it under the tiles on the roof, where it stayed the whole day and then fluttered away into the night…
I thank whole heartedly the members of IndianMoths group on Facebook who made me come alive to the existence of Moths, especially to Dr. Roger Kendrick and Peter Smetacek who even today deal patiently with my ignorance and guide me towards knowing these creatures…
Given below is the check-list of these four families, which are hyper-linked to the image pages… Any mistakes found on these pages can be kindly pointed out to me by leaving a comment on the page…
Kalatope Moths Check-list – ‘Pyralidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae & Notodontidae’
FAMILY
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SUB-FAMILY
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TRIBE
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SPECIES
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Pyralidae
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Epipaschiinae
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Locastra c.f. muscosalis (Walker, [1866])
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Pyralidae
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Epipaschiinae
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Salma sp – Walker, 1863
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Endotrichini
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Endotricha sp. – Zeller 1847
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Pyralini
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Heterocrasa expansalis – Warren, 1896
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Pyralini
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Orybina flaviplaga – Walker, 1863
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Pyralini
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Tamraca torridalis – Lederer, 1863
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Pyralini
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Toccolosida rubriceps – Walker, 1863
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Sacada sp. – Walker, 1862
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Pyralidae
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Pyralinae
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Pyralis sp – Linnaeus, 1758
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Pyralidae
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Epipaschiinae
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Coenodomus sp – Walsingham, 1888
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Pyralidae
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Epipaschiinae
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Saturniidae
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Saturniinae
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Saturniini
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Actias selene – Hübner, 1807 (Luna moth / Indian Moon Moth)
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Saturniidae
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Saturniinae
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Saturniini
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Loepa katinka – Westwood, 1848
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Saturniidae
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Saturniinae
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Saturniini
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Loepa sp. – Moore, 1860
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Saturniidae
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Saturniinae
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Caligula thibeta – Westwood, 1853
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Sphingidae
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Macroglossinae
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Macroglossini
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Macroglossum nycteris – Kollar, 1844
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Sphingidae
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Macroglossinae
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Macroglossini
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Rhagastis olivacea – Moore, 1872
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Sphingidae
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Macroglossinae
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Macroglossini
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Theretra nessus – Drury, 1773
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Sphingidae
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Macroglossinae
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Macroglossini
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Theretra oldenlandiae – Fabricius, 1775
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Sphingidae
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Macroglossinae
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Dilophonotini
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Cephonodes hylas – Linnaeus, 1771
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Sphingidae
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Smerinthinae
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Sphingulini
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Dolbina sp – Staudinger, 1877
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Sphingidae
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Smerinthinae
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Smerinthini
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Clanidopsis exusta – Butler, 1875
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Sphingidae
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Sphinginae
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Sphingulini
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Dolbinopsis (Dolbina) inexacta – Walker, 1856
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Sphingidae
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Sphinginae
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Acherontiini
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Agrius convolvuli – Linnaeus, 1758
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Notodontidae
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Dudusiinae
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Dudusa sphingiformis – Moore, 1872
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Notodontidae
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Phalerinae
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Phalera parivala – Moore, 1859
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Notodontidae
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Pygaerinae
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Clostera sp – Samouelle, 1819
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Notodontidae
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Spatalia (subgen. Allata) sp. – Hübner, 1819
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Notodontidae
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Ceirinae
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Bireta longivitta Walker 1856
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Notodontidae
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Ceirinae
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allied to the genera Bireta and Periergos
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Notodontidae
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Notodontini
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Neodrymonia sp – Matsumura, 1920
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Filed under: Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, Kalatope-Khajjiar Sanctuary, Lepidoptera, Moths, Nature | Tagged: Chamba, Dalhousie, Dr. Roger C Kendrick, Himachal Pradesh, Himalayas, Kalatope-Khajjiar sanctuary, Lepidoptera, Moths, Notodontidae, Peter Smetacek, Pyralidae, Saturniidae, Sphingidae | Leave a comment »