Issues and Trends of Wildlife Conservation in Northeast India 2014

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1 Wild silk moths (Lepidoptera: Saturniidae) of Hmuifang community forest, Aizawl Mizoram: Conservation concerns Esther Lalhmingliani 1, G. Gurusubramanian 1, H. T. Lalremsanga 1, C.Lalrinchhana 1 and Samuel Lalronunga 2 1 Department of Zoology, Mizoram University, Aizawl , Mizoram, India. ²Department of Environmental Science, Mizoram University, Aizawl , Mizoram, India. es_ralte@yahoo.in Abstract A total of eleven species of wild silk moths belonging to eight genera were sampled from Hmuifang community forest, a tourist spot near Aizawl, Mizoram from 2011 to 2013 using standard practices. These findings constitute 27.5 % and % of India and northeast India respectively, depicting that the study area is high in diversity. However, several current development programs including laying of roads, construction of several concrete buildings like rest houses, cafeteria, auditorium, retaining walls etc. by departments of Tourism and Local Administrative Department (L.A.D.) and movement of heavy vehicles, labors and illegal fire woods collection by the local dwellers cause disturbance posing immediate threats to these habitats. This will cause widespread of negative effect not only on wild silk moths and the natural resources which they are dependent upon but also on other fauna. So there is an urgent need to conserve and restore the biodiversity of wild silk moths and other flora and fauna of this area so as to counter human impacts and to immediately implement monitoring schemes to evaluate their present status and their dynamics over time. Key words: Wild silk moths diversity, human impacts, conservation, Hmuifang, Mizoram. Introduction Wild silk moths belonging to the order Lepidoptera, family Saturniidae are the most diverse family of Bombycoidea sensustricto (Minnet1994) consisting of about 1500 species all over the world, of which the Indian subcontinent extending from Himalayas to Sri Lanka may possess about 50 species (Nassig et. al., 1996). Regier et. al. (2008) stated that the Saturniids which include some of the largest and most conspicious of all Lepidoptera like giant silk moths, royal moths and emperor moths are univoltine to multivoltine depending upon the climatic conditions and are distributed in both temperate and tropical region. Singh and Chakravorty (2006) enlisted 24 species of the family Saturniidae from northeast India.While a few survey reports on wild silk moths in the North-Eastern India are available (Bhattacharya and Teotia 1998; Bhattacharya et. al., 2004; Thangavelu and Borah 1986; Thangavelu et. al., 1987), overall diversity and distribution pattern of wild silk moths in the state of Mizoram are generally lacking. The faunal diversity of the state is poorly documented with few preliminary surveys. Gupta (2007) reported only one species of wild silk moth viz. Samia cynthia from Mizoram. Hence an attempt is made for the first time to conduct a detail survey in Hmuifang, Aizawl, Mizoram to characterize, classify and document the status of these precious faunal species in the region. Materials and methods Study area The present surveyed area lies in between 92 45'21''E '01''E and 23 26'19''N '26''N in Hmuifang community forested area, a tourist spot near Aizawl, Mizoram (Fig. 1 and Fig.2). It is located at a distance of 50 kms to the south of 261 ISBN

2 Aizawl, Hmuifang Mountain with an elevation of 1619 metres above sea level. It is covered with virgin forests reserved since the days of the Mizo chiefs but is now under threats due to anthropogenic effect. Hmuifang Tourist Resort, located at the scenic peak of the mountain, has been created and maintained by the Department of Tourism.The resort offers an ideal getaway in the midst of nature and was built on the former land of the erstwhile Mizo chief Lallianvunga who used to rule over the villages in the mountain during early 19 th century. The patches of grasslands on the peak are also ideal for picnics and outdoor camping. This is also the venue of the annual Anthurium Festival and Thalfavang Kut hosted by the Deparment of Tourism. The mountain also has beautiful cliffs and offers Fig. 1: Surveyed area (Lallianvunga Hmun) at Hmuifang park Fig. 2: Undisturbed vegetation of surveyed area at Hmuifang park great views of the surrounding hills. To the nature lovers, the surrounding forests abound with fascinating varieties of flora including rare orchids and wildlife especially avifauna. The most common trees present in the area are Quercus leucotrichophora (Then), Callophyllum polyanthum (Sentezel), Rubia cardifolia (Saphut), Eliocarpus aristatus (Thei-kel-ek), etc. Occasional random surveys were conducted throughout Hmuifang community forest area from 2011 till 2013.The main objectives of the survey were to document the diversity of wild silk moths and their host plants, and to stress the need for their conservationdue to anthropogenic disturbances.the specimens of moths were collected following standard practices and identified according to available literatures (Arora and Gupta, 1979; Nassig et. al., 1996; Peigler and Naumann, 2003; Hampson, 1976) and by consulting specialists on the subject from Zoological Survey of India, Eastern Regional Station, Shillong. Vouchers of the collected specimens are maintained in the department of Zoology, Mizoram University, Aizawl. Result and discussion The study revealed the presence of 11 species of wild silk moths belonging to 8 genera (Table1). The most common species sampled during the study was A. selene, represented by 6 specimens followed by Archaeoattacus edwarsii (4 individuals), Samia canningi (3 individuals), Salassa lemaii (2 individuals), Loepa katinka (2 individuals), and the rest were represented by 1 specimen only. Difference in abundance require careful interpretation however, particularly since light trapping depends strongly on patterns of moth activity and other external factors (Butler et. al., 1999; Fiedler and Schulze, 2004) including seasonal differences in moth diversity abundance (Summerville and Crist, 2003) and variability in collection conditions (Gotelli and Colwell, 2001). Attacus atlas (wingspan of male = mm; female = mm) is the biggest while Cricula trifenestrata (wingspan of male = 70.7 mm; female = 76 mm) is the smallest of all the collected wild silk moths in this area which is in par with the observation 262 ISBN

3 Table 1: List of wild silk moths of hmuifang community forest along with their host plants. Sl Wild silk moth Date of Scientific name of host plant Local name no. collection 1. Attacus atlas Maesa indica Evodia flaxinifolia Ar- ngeng Ching-it-suak 2. Archaeoattacus edwarsii Psygium guajava* Kawlthei Actias selene Rhus semialata Evodia flaxinifolia Betula alnoides Khawmhma Ching-it-suak Hriang 4. Antheraea assamensis Litsea polyantha L. saliciflolia* L. cubeba Ziziphus mauritiana Percia bombycina* 5. Antheraea helferi Not yet confirm 6. Cricula trifenestrata Litsea cubeba Percia bombycina* Betula alnoides Mangifera indica* 7. Loepa katinka Not yet confirm Loepa sikkima Not yet confirm 9. Samia canningi Salassa lemaii Salassa cf. megastica *Found in hmuifang Ricinus communis Manihot esculanta* Litsea salicifolia* L. cubeba Psidium guajava* Evodia flaxinifolia Duanbanga sonneritoides Heteropanax fragrans Zanthoxylum rhetsa* Not yet confirm Nauthak Dawn-dung Sernam Bo-rai Bul Ser nam Bul Hriang Theihai Mu trih Pangbal Dawn-dung Ser nam Kawl-thei Ching-it-suak Zuang Changkhen Ching-it of Kakati and Chutia (2009) conducted in the neighbouring state, Nagaland. Arora and Gupta (1979) enlisted 40 species of wild silk moths from India alone while Singh and Chakravorty (2006) enlisted 24 species of the family Saturniidae from North East India. During the period of 3 years survey, Kakati and Chutia (2009) reported 14 species of wild silk moths belonging to 8 genera from the state of Nagaland. Recently, Devi et. al. (2011) documented 14 species belonging to 6 genera from the state of Manipur. The present preliminary survey representing a small portion of the state of Mizoram revealed 11species belonging to 8 genera which constitute 27.5% and % of 263 ISBN

4 A B C D Fig. 3: Some of Wild Silk moths collected from Hmuifang; (A) Salassa lemaii; (B) Archaeoattacus edwarsii; (C)Loepa sikkima; (D) Antheraea asamensis silk entomofauna of India and North East India, respectively. The presence of all these species reflects the diversity and richness of wild silk moths both in the study area and Mizoram as well. This high record of wild silk moth in the present study seems encouraging enough as previous preliminary survey reported only one species i.e. Samia cynthia from the state of Mizoram (Gupta, 2007). Though many species of wild silk moth were encountered from the area, most of their host plants were found to be absent (Table 1). This may be due to the presence of alternate food plants which were not yet indentified or the wild silk moths may feed on host plants present in the surrounding vicinity of the study area. While most studies today have focused on charismatic indicators or flagship groups such as birds and mammals attention is now expanding to a wider range of taxa (Barlow et. al., 2007; Gardner et. al., 2008). Insects make enormous contribution to both tropical diversity (Lewinsohn et. al., 2005) and ecosystem functioning (Wilson, 1987), and moths are one of the group playing a central role in numerous ecosystem as prey, herbivores and pollinators (Barlow and Woiwod, 1989; Janzen, 1987). Agro forestry and wild insect conservation are interdisciplinary, multi sector approaches of land use and its prime objective is to protect environment in order to maintain the natural integrity (Gill and Lal, 2002). Representing only a small portion of the state, the study area harboring 11 species of wild silk moths belonging to 8 genera as against 17 species recorded from the state shows that it is high in diversity (unpublished data).there have been direct and indirect ecological consequences of development as a result of both planned and unplanned activities.several different 264 ISBN

5 A B C D Fig. 4 (A D): Habitat destructions at Hmuifang: (A) Laying of road; (B) Felling of trees; (C) Cleared area of natural forest for Rest house construction; (D) Construction of Resthouse. developmental activities initiated by the government of Mizoram in Hmuifang community forest area including laying of roads, construction of several civil structures, movement of heavy vehicles, labors and illegal fire woods collection by the local dwellers cause disturbance posing immediate threats to these habitats (Fig. 3 A-D). Habitat loss is widely regarded as the single greatest threat to diversity of terrestrial plants and animal worldwide (Fahrig, 2001). These activities can result in habitat fragmentation, population loss and cause local extinction that would seriously affect the distribution of wild silk moths and other wildlife in the area. If the present trend of clearing and development continues, the area will no longer provides good habitat not only for wild silk moths but for other terrestrial plants and animals as well and whatever existing flora and fauna will either become extinct or highly localized and endangered. Hence the conservation of naturally grown wild silkmoth food plants along with silk moths will contributes for the biodiversity maintenance besides their sustainable utilization by forest dwelling aboriginals. So there is an urgent need to conserve and restore the biodiversity of wild silk moths in order to counter human impacts and to immediately implement monitoring schemes to both evaluate their present status and their dynamics over time. The conservation management of any ecosystem should be an integrated endeavor concerning lower and higher flora along with invertebrate and vertebrate fauna. Hence the co-ordination among agencies implementing conservation, irrespective of plant or animal, big or small in size commercially important or not together with beneficiaries can have greater impact and success. Acknowledgement The financial assistance provided by Central Silk Board, Ministry of Textiles (Govt. of India), Bangalore, is highly acknowledged. Authors sincerely appreciate and gratefully 265 ISBN

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