Naturalists find giant Attacus Atlas moth in Western Ghats

Naturalists find giant Attacus Atlas moth in Western Ghats

                                                                                 

    

A TEAM of naturalists have found an entire family of the gigantic and rare Attacus Atlas moth, the world's largest, in the Western Ghats in Kolhapur.

The discovery of these moths with a wing span of around 25-30 cms was made last week in the thick and lush green Tilari tropical forests of Chandgad sub-district, falling in the Western Ghats which are rich in flora of wild silk insects.

"We found a male and female moth, and their cocoon on some greener)' in the deep forests when our team was searching for wild silk insects as part of a project by Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (CSIR)." the team head. Dr A D Jadhav. Assistant Professor at Kolhapur's Shivaji University, told IANS. The find is particularly exciting due to the Atlas Moths' tough life cycle and sheer struggle for survival in nature and the availability of a mate in the open forests since it's a rare species with the largest wing-size in ihe Lepidopiera group of insects, he said. "Atlas Moth caterpillars (babies) are the favourite prey of other larger creaiures. but its presence in this particular location shows richness of biodiversity of the flora and fauna in the Western Ghats, a mega-diversity hotspot in India." Jadhav said.

Posted in: News 2014