~ 168 ~ Journal of Entomology and Zoology Studies 2015; 3 (1): 168-173 E-ISSN: 2320-7078 P-ISSN: 2349-6800 JEZS 2015; 3 (1): 168-173 © 2015 JEZS Received: 03-12-2014 Accepted: 09-01-2015 Jane Wanry Shangpliang Department of Zoology North Eastern Hill University, Umshing Shillong 793022, Meghalaya, India S.R. Hajong Department of Zoology North Eastern Hill University, Umshing Shillong 793022, Meghalaya, India Correspondence: Jane Wanry Shangpliang Department of Zoology North Eastern Hill University, Umshing Shillong 793022, Meghalaya, India Diversity, species richness and evenness of wild silk moths collected from Khasi hills of Meghalaya, North East India Jane Wanry Shangpliang and S.R. Hajong Abstract Species richness and diversity of the wild silk moths of Khasi Hills of Meghalaya were investigated for three years (2011-2013). The study was carried out in four districts of Khasi Hills. During the study period, a total of fifteen species belonging to nine genera were recorded. Caligula simla was the most dominated species in all three years with seventeen specimens collected followed by Actias selene with fifteen number of individuals. Maximum number of individuals were recorded during the monsoon season and lesser in the pre and post monsoon seasons. Keywords: Diversity, Wild silk moths, Khasi Hills, Meghalaya 1. Introduction The wild silk moths belong to the family Saturniidae and Super Family Bombycoidea. The family Saturniidae is the largest family of the Superfamily Bombycoidea containing about 1861 species in 162 genera and 9 sub families [10] . There are 1100 species of non-mulberry silk moths known in the world [12] . The family Saturniidae comprises of about 1200-1500 species all over the world of which the Indian sub-continent, extending from the Himalayas to Sri Lanka may possess over 50 species [11] . Jolly et al (1975) reported about 80 species of wild silk moths occurring in Asia and Africa [9] . Singh and Chakravorty (2006) enlisted 24 species of the family Saturniidae from North East India [15] . Arora and Gupta (1979) reported as many as 40 species of wild silk moths in India alone [1] . Kakati (2009), during his study on wild silk moths recorded 14 species of wild silk moths belonging to eight genera from the state of Nagaland, North East India [10] . While a few survey reports on wild sericigenous insects in the North Eastern India are available (Thangavelu and Borah, 1986; Thangavelu et al., 1987; Bhattarcharya and Tiotia, 2000 and Bhattarcharya et al., 2004) [2, 3, 16, 17,] information on species diversity and distribution pattern of silkmoths in the State of Meghalaya is generally lacking. Gupta (2000) recorded 20 species of wild silk moths from Meghalaya [4] . Lepidoptera is probably one of the most suitable groups for most quantitative comparisons between insect faunas to be valid, for the many reasons elaborated by Holloway [6, 7, 8] . Especially their abundance, species richness, response to vegetation and climate, their ease of sampling using light traps and relatively advanced taxonomy. Although light trapping of macrolepidoptera has been carried out widely in temperate and tropical regions throughout the world, but generally results are not directly comparable between areas because of different light sources, trap design, trapping periods and taxonomic coverage. A recent review by Holloway [8] (1987) of the many light trap samples of macrolepidoptera throughout the Indo- Australian tropics gave a very useful summary of the existing information from the area and suggested some general trends in relation to altitude, isolation and disturbance. 2. Materials and Methods 2.1 Description of the collection sites The study was carried out in different parts of Khasi Hills of Meghalaya for a period of three years (2011-2013). Meghalaya situated in the Eastern Himalayas comprises of an area of 22,549 sq. Km, and lies between 25 o 02’ and 26 o 07’ north latitude and 89 o 49’ and 92 o 50’ east longitude. The elevation ranges from 60 m to 1950m above sea level. Average maximum and minimum temperatures in the state varies from 5 0 C to 32 0 C and average rainfall as high as 1200 cm in some areas. It has a forest cover of 9,496 sq. km which is 42.34% of the total geographic area of the State.