Moth (Lepidoptera: Heterocera) Fauna of Delhi with Notes on Their Role as Potential Agricultural Pests

Abstract

The present study dealsrnwith moth inventory in Delhi carried out from 2014 to 2015. During the study 36rnspecies of moths belonging to 31 genera and 7 families were added to thernexisting moth fauna of Delhi. After the present study, the moth fauna of Delhirncomprises a total of 47 species belonging to 42 genera and 9 families. Among these, species richness was found to be highest for familyrnNoctuidae (17 spp.) followed by Erebidae (11 spp.) and Sphingidae (6 spp.). The paper also provides information about moths acting as potentialrnagricultural pests of common vegetables and crops of Delhi region based onrnsecondary data.