Devinder Singh

• MSc, MPhil, PhD, PDF (USA)
• Professor (Full) at Chandigarh University

This is an up-to-date and comprehensive handbook that presents a wealth of information on the different aspects of one of the largest dipterous family, Culicidae (Mosquitoes). India shares more than ten percent of the global mosquito fauna and this book provides an extensive inventory of extant taxa, along with a detailed description of the key ide...

Human cadavers are peculiar when compared to other animal carrion. While alive, many humans ingest a variety of drugs/toxins, both legal and illegal, and in several cases the drugs/toxins consumed may accumulate in the tissues, such as liver, skeletal muscles and blood. Moreover, humans may ingest drugs and other toxic substances accidently or for...

Remarkable is the eminence of nature, which has equipped the small, abhorrent creatures ‘insects’ with the profound power to hint surreptitious clues allied to death, physical abuse or murder under mysterious circumstances. These are so perfect in their job, that they witness the most dreadful and shadowy episodes of crime in the back of beyond. Th...

A corpse progresses through a recognizable sequence of profound physical, biological, and chemical changes caused by autolysis of tissues as well as bacterial and fungal activity. Every stage of decomposition is attractive to a different group of invertebrates. Insects comprise the greatest proportion of the decomposer fauna both in terms of divers...

The present study describes three lead-resistant bacterial isolates (KPb1, KPb5, and KPb7) that were isolated from water samples of the River Holy Kali Bein, Punjab, India. The isolates were found to resist and bioaccumulate lead, and maximum tolerated concentrations were found to be 750 mg/L by KPb1 and KPb5, and 800 mg/L by isolate KPb7, respecti...

This article reports for the first time a phoretic pygmephorid mite on a muscid fly from India, with pygmephorid mites classified under the order Prostigmata and the family Pygmephoridae. The mites, identified as species of the genus Pediculaster belonging to the family Pygmephoridae, were collected in July 2019 from Khajjiar town, located in the C...

Lead is a naturally occurring, bluish-gray metal that is found in small quantities in the earth’s crust. The existing literature demonstrates that non-biodegradable character and continuous use results in accumulation of lead concentration in the environment and causes various ill effects such as neurotoxicity, change in psychological and behaviora...

Forensic Entomology is the study of the application of insects/arthropods in criminal investigations. The coded language of insects has been effectively decoded and used by Forensic Entomologists in solving homicidal cases. Forensic Entomologist can help to establish the post-mortem interval (PMI) of a body, geographic location of death, site of tr...

Two species, Rhagastis velata Walker and Rhagastis olivacea Moore have been taxonomically examined. The external morphological characters, including wing venation and male genitalic features, have been studied in detail. Besides updating the genus diagnosis and distributional range, the key to the studied species has also been formulated.

Two species, namely Calliteara taiwana (Wileman) and C. siniaevi Trofimova et al., are recorded here for the first time from India. The range extension of other species has also been observed. The detailed diagnostic characters and global distribution of the species have been provided.

Three species of Artaxa Walker, A. guttata Walker, A. vitellina (Kollar) comb. nov. and A. digramma (Boisduval) have been studied in detail. The taxonomic status of the genus has been updated. The various significant external morphological features like wing maculation, venation and, particularly, the genitalic features have been studied in detail....

Muscid flies are of great medical and veterinary importance because of their ability to transmit diseases to humans and animals. Their larvae are found on dead bodies and are used as a forensic indicator for estimating Post-Mortem Interval (PMI). A drawback of morphological identification of these larvae is lack of an identification key which cover...

Asthma is a common problem that affects about 20 million peoples in India and can be often under-diagnosed or misdiagnosed. It can be allergic or non-allergic though the former type is more common and prevalent. Allergic asthma can be triggered by many allergens and house dust mites (HDM) are one of the common indoor allergens. The present study em...

An updated taxonomic account of four species of genus Ilema Moore, 1860 namely chloroptera (Hampson, 1892), bhana (Moore, 1865), acerosa (Chao, 1986) and caperata (Moore, 1986) have been described from Western Himalayas. Two species i.e., acerosa (Chao, 1986) and caperata (Moore, 1986) have been reported for the first time from India. The detailed...

The male and female genitalic features of five species of genus Acosmeryx Boisduval viz., anceus Stoll (type species), naga (Moore), socrates Boisduval, omissa Rothschild and Jordan and shervilli Boisduval have been studied and illustrated in detail. The genus diagnosis has been updated and a key to the studied species has been formulated.

The present work was aimed to investigate the phylogenetic relationships of Pentatomidae based on mitochondrial Cyt b gene sequences. We sequenced and analysed a 440 bp fragment of Cyt b gene to assess the level of sequence divergence in different species of Pentatomid bugs collected from distant localities of Northern India. The data divulged an R...

Genetic diversity in cytochrome c oxidase I (COI) among 15 species of Anopheles mosquitoes from India from other geographical regions of the world was recorded. Barcoding analysis revealed a clear gap between intraspecific and interspecific distances for these 15 species. Genetic distances of Anopheles species adequately differentiated the species...

Classification of water quality is a valuable method for reporting quality status of a water body that can help to control pollution in monitored sites. In this study water quality of rivulet Holy Kali Bein in the state of Punjab, India was analysed by using water quality index (WQI) and multivariate statistical analysis on the bases of measured wa...

The present work was aimed to investigate the phylogenetic analysis of different species of Indian stink bugs belonging to family Pentatomidae based on mitochondrial Cyt b DNA sequences. We sequenced and analysed a 440 bp fragment of the mitochondrial Cyt b gene to assess the level of sequence divergence in different species of Pentatomid bugs coll...

The surveys to different localities of Himachal Pradesh, Jammu & Kashmir and Uttarakhand yielded three species of genus Sphrageidus Maes, namely S. similis (Fuessly), S. simlensis (Gupta) and S. xanthorrhoea (Kollar) of subfamily Lymantriinae. The external morphological characters particularly wing maculation and venation along with genitalia chara...

In the current study, a partial sequence of 536 bp (approx) of COI gene for seven species belonging to family Sphingidae were analysed. The study was conducted on a collection of moths from northern India, mainly in the states of Himachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. The sequences have been added to the database at GenBank NCBI. The analysis sh...

The present communication deals with updating of the taxonomic status of a tussock moth species Leucoma ochripes Moore, making a new combination in the genus Himala Moore as Himala ochripes (Moore). The external morphological characters especially distinct male genitalic features served as the basis for the taxonomic placement. The collection of th...

Three Indian species of genus Stomorhina Rodani are redescribed in detail with illustrations of male and female genitalia, taxonomic history and updated distribution records.

The known Indian species of the moth genus Paralebeda Aurivillius namely femorata (Menetries) and the type species plagifera (Walker) have been taxonomically treated. The external morphological characters particularly species specific features such as wing venation and genitalic characters have been studied and illustrated. The genus diagnosis has...

The genus Trabala Walker is represented by 28 species from the Oriental and Palearctic regions. Three species of this genus, i.e., Trabala ganesha Roepke, Trabala pallida (Walker), and Trabala vishnou (Lefebvre) have been critically examined to study the external morphological structures including the wing venation and genitalic features. These att...

Inflammation is considered as an early event in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) that precedes the formation of Aβ plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. Therefore, strategies aimed at attenuating inflammation by phytochemicals may be a potential therapeutic intervention against AD. The present study was designed to evaluate if colchicine-...

Traumatic myiasis, the invasion of live tissues by fly larvae, is a commonly observed phenomenon in animals like sheep and cattle, but is also witnessed sometimes among humans. It is a parasitic infestation in which the dipteran larvae invade the neglected open wounds and foul smelling body apertures of vertebrate animals thereby using the living o...

The external morphological characters particularly the wing venation and genitalic features of three species namely lineata (Moore), fulgens (Moore) and latipennis (Walker) of genus Kunugia Nagano of family Lasiocampidae have been studied and illustrated in detail. Two species i.e., Kunugia lineata (Moore) and Kunugia latipennis (Walker) have been...

The present communication deals with the taxonomic studies of Himala argentea (Walker) which is the type species of the genus Himala Moore. The external morphological characters including the wing maculation, venation and particularly the male and female external genitalic features of this species have been studied and illustrated in detail. This g...

The present communication deals with the taxonomic studies on Imaus mundus (Walker) which is the type species of genus Imaus Moore. The external morphological characters including the wing maculation, venation and particularly the male external genitalic features of this species has been studied and illustrated in detail. This monotypic genus is ch...

Three species belonging to the genus Catapicephala Macquart have been collected from NorthWest India. Detailed descriptions have been written for each of them that include synonymy, morphological attributes, colouration, chaetotaxy, wing venation, illustrations of male and female genitalia, material examined distribution, holotype depository and re...

Molecular studies are recognized as a useful tool in species identification and sequence disparity. Nuclear region and mitochondrial genome has been analyzed and studied comprehensively all over the world. In this review, a detailed description of the molecular work done by several workers in India has been provided. It can be concluded that, the m...

The male and female genitalic features of four species of genus Hippotion Hübner viz. i.e. celerio (Linnaeus), echeclus (Boisduval), boerhaviae (Fabricius) and rafflesi (Butler) have been studied and illustrated. The genus diagnosis has been updated and a key to the species has been formulated.

The male genitalia of three species Bercaea cruentata (Meigen), Lioproctia Annandalei (Senior-White) and Sarcosolomania kaushalensis (Nandi) have been studied. The present work includes the descriptions and detailed illustrations of external male genitelic structures which have not been published. A key to the studied species is also given.

g up t ara s bniman g la @ g mail. c o m Gews Morinia is represented by a single species, Moinia argenticincta in the Oriental region (Senior-White et al., I 940). The species are distinct by lacking any pale hair on the body. Accoring to Rognes (1991) this genus shows similarity to the Nearcttc genus Mellanodexmia.Diagnosis: body dark with thin la...

Three species belonging to the genus Rhyncomya Robineau-Desvoidy (Diptera : Calliphoridae) have been collected from NorthWest India i.e., R. pollinosa (Townsend), R. divisa (Walker) and R. flavibasis (Senior-White). Detailed descriptions have been written on a uniform pattern for each of them that include synonymy, morphological attributes, coloura...

Four Indian species belonging to the genus Calliphora Robineau-Desvoidy have been studied and detailed descriptions have been written for each of them that include synonymy, morphological attributes, colouration, chaetotaxy, wing venation, illustrations of male and female genitalia, material examined, distribution, holotype depository and remarks....

Indian species belonging to the genus Hemipyrellia Townsend have been studied and a detailed description has been written that includes synonymy, morphological attributes, colouration, chaetotaxy, wing venation, illustrations of male and female genitalia, material examined, distribution, holotype depository and remarks. A key to the species has als...

Three species belonging to the genus Cosmina Robineau-Desvoidy were eollected from NorthWest India. Detailed descriptions were written for each ofthem that included synonymy, morphological attributes, colouration, chaetotaxy, wing venation, illustrations of male and female genitalia, material examined, distribution, holotlpe depository and remarks....

The only known species of the genus Thoracites from the Oriental region has been studied and a detailed description includes synonymy, morphological attributes, colouration, chaetotaxy, wing venation, illustrations of male genitalia, material examined, distribution, holotype depository and remarks.

Three species namely Euthrix isocyma (Hampson), Euthrix fox (Zolotuhin and Witt) and Euthrix laeta (Walker) have been taxonomically treated from North-West India. The external morphological features such as wing maculation, venation along with external genitalic structures of these species have been described and illustrated in detail. A key to the...

Taxonomic identification of flies having medical and veterinary importance is often complicated due to the lookalike morphological characters. Molecular identification of five Indian muscid flies (Musca domestica, Musca sorbens, Musca crassirostris, Stomoxys calcitrans and Haematobia irritans) has been attempted on the basis of mitochondrial COII g...

One of the remarkable achievements of modern biology has been the development of accurate and reliable technologies for the rapid screening of DNA sequence variations. Molecular identification and DNA barcoding is a taxonomic method that can be used to identify a species, including an unknown one. Mitochondrial genome is most extensively studied ge...

Flies were collected from various garbage dumping sites. These were then morphologically identified and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) typing was performed for these. Then phylogenetic tree was attempted for deriving the inter relationships among these flies. Finally, these were analyzed for Phylogenetic niche conservation studies (PNC). Analysis reveal...

Cytochrome oxidase II (COII) gene is the second most widely used gene in phylogenetic analysis of different metazoans after the COI gene. This gene shows more percentage of conserved regions in comparison to COI gene. In the analysis four different forensically important flies were considered. The phylogenetic relationships were deciphered using fo...

Phylogenetic studies were performed on family Calliphoridae to deduce interspecific and intraspecific variations. Alignment of a total of 53 sequences comprising of 10 Calliphorid species was carried out. Also for population studies, 23 sequences were picked from the Gen Bank. Sarcophaga subvicina was chosen as the out group which got clearly separ...

The present study was hinge on the specimens of Sarcophagidae family during the collection cum survey tours undertaken from July, 2011 to June 2012 in five states of northern India. The male genitalia of three species belonging to the genus Parasarcophaga Johnston and Tiegs, i.e., sericea (Walker), misera (Walker) and hirtipes (Wiedemann) have been...

External genitalia is considered as one of the most stable and reliable diagnostic character to identify a species and to separate the closely related species. In the present paper, spermatheca, a part of female genitalia has been chosen to illustrate its taxonomic significance. The variations in the shape of the structure, number of additional pro...

The male and female genitalic features of three species of genus Ambulyx Westwood viz. substrigilis (Westwood), obliterata Rothschild and moorei Moore have been studied and illustrated in detail. The genus diagnosis has been updated and a key to the species has been formulated.

The male genitalia of two species belonging to the genus Parasarcophaga Johnston and Tiegs, i.e., dux (Thomson), and sarupi Nandi have been studied in detail. The present work includes the descriptions and detailed illustrations of external male genitalic structures which have not been published so far these two species. A key to the studied specie...

Background and Objective: The genus Brahmaea Walker is represented by eight species out of which two species i.e., wallichii Gray and hearseyi White are known from India. These species are closely allied and it is not easy to differentiate these species on the basis of external morphological characters. Hence, to differentiate these species, extern...

The male and female genitalic features of Callambulyx rubricosa Walker (type species) have been studied and illustrated in detail. The genus diagnosis has been updated.

Calliphorids are forensically, ecologically and anthropologically very valuable, as they are astute forensic detectives; vectors of some human and veterinary diseases, scavenge on dead matter; responsible for myiasis in neglected and injured organisms, hold aesthetic value; used in maggot debridement therapy and are great pollinators. A new record...

The male and female genitalic features of three species of genus Clanis Hübner viz. phalaris (Cramer), deucalion (Walker) and bilineata (Walker) have been studied and illustrated in detail. The genus diagnosis has been updated and a key to the species has been formulated.

DNA studies are nowadays predominant in phylogenetics. But morphological approach is still the most widely accepted approach among the taxonomists. In the present study, the author has for the first time tried to construct a cladogram among the calliphorid species based on morphological traits which further stilted the molecular analysis. This anal...

Forensic entomology is the study of insects found around the crime scene and are helpful for the estimation of time elapsed since death of a person i.e., post mortem interval (PMI). There are number techniques available for the identification of insect species and Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) is one of those. RAPD is a useful technique d...

An Indian species of Sciocoris is redescribed. The female genitalic characters are incorporated with detailed illustrations.

Ptelocnemis Stal is mainly Ethiopian in distribution and only one species of this genus has been reported from the Oriental region. A detailed account of morphological characters as well as female external genitalia of this species has been given in this paper. Photographs and measurements have also been provided.

Fauna found in and around the corpse is very crucial for the estimation of post mortem interval (PMI) i.e., the time elapsed since death. The collected fauna can be identified morphological by using various keys but problem arise when insects are morphologically similar or the body is broken or fragmented making it difficult for the taxonomists to...

There are complex morphological differences in the species of blow flies associated with the decomposing corpses in different habitats and environments. A thorough diligent examination of each specimen is required for identifying them, as species associated with an exposed corpse differ from those on the buried or burnt body or when the corpse is w...

An absolutely vital prerequisite in the forensic entomology cases is the estimation of post mortem interval (PMI). Due to similar morphological look, identification of the flesh fly fauna associated with the corpse is very difficult for nontaxonomists and needs professional hand to be dealt with. So, to simplify the identification process the appli...

The male and female genitalic features of broad bordered bee hawk moth i.e., Hemaris fuciformis Linnaeus (type species) have been studied and illustrated in detail. The genus diagnosis has been updated.