Citizen scientists document moths in Kerala

KOCHI: Every year during the month of July naturalists and citizen scientists in the state would embark on an initiative to celebrate a largely nocturnal insect with huge ecological significance.
The event National Moth Week began in US in 2012 and has now spread across the globe with enthusiasts participating through specially organized events or individual explorations to learn, observe and document different moth species.
“Participants are asked to photo document the moths and this data is uploaded to iNaturalist website, a citizen science platform,” says Unnikrishnan P M, coordinator for National Moth Week event by Zoological Club of Payyannur College.
The iNaturalist page on Saturday showed a total of 1,000 observations by 72 persons. A total of 262 species were also identified with the help of 51 identifiers. The moth week which began on July18 ended on Sunday.
“If we keep a moth screen on a single day we can observe 500 to 600 moths. Kerala would have around 8,000 moth species,” says Balakrishnan Valappil, a naturalist who has published a checklist for 844 moths in the state. “Many have several false perceptions regarding moths, which are key pollinators. The hairy caterpillars sometimes repel people because it can cause itches,” says Manoj Karingamadathil, a naturalist and birder.