Kailash Chandra

Zoological Survey of India | ZSI · Zoological Survey of India

India, an acclaimed mega-biodiversity nation, represents about 6.4% of the total global fauna in its share of only 2.4% of the total land surface of the world. Biogeographically, the country is divided into ten different biogeographic zones: Trans Himalaya, Himalaya, Desert, Semi-Arid, Western Ghats, Deccan Peninsula, Gangetic Plains, Northeast, Is...

A new species of the genus Pukupuku Muramoto, 2006 is described from the state of Arunachal Pradesh (Northeast India): Pukupuku arunachalensis sp. nov. Relevant diagnostic characters are illustrated and compared with closely related species, Pukupuku curtus (Arrow, 1919) and Pukupuku katsurai (Muramoto, 2002). The distribution of the new species is...

A new species of the genus Odontotrypes Fairmaire, 1887 (Coleoptera: Geotrupidae) belonging to the subgenus Odontotrupes Boucomont, 1905 is described from the Tawang district, State of Arunachal Pradesh (northeast India): Odontotrypes (Odontotrupes) tawangensis new species. Relevant diagnostic characters (pronotum, head, elytra, profemur, scutellar...

The present study enumerates 65 species of Papilionoidea from the Ladakh Himalaya with the geographical locations and adult flight data. All the species are documented by museum vouchers. Most of the species recorded, have restricted distribution or they are endemic to the Pamir–NW Himalaya region. Sixteen species are protected in the Indian Wildli...

Chinese pangolin (Manis pentadactyla) has experienced a rapid population decline across its distribution range mainly due to illegal harvesting for scale and local consumption for meat. We monitored 65 burrows of free-ranging pangolins and collected 147 fecal droppings from five sites in the Darjeeling district of Northwest Bengal in the central Hi...

The genus Melolontha Fabricius, 1775 (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Melolonthinae) from India is reviewed. Two new species, Melolontha arunachalensis Gupta, Keith, Bhunia, Das, Ghosh & Chandra, new species and Melolontha lachungensis Gupta, Keith, Bhunia, Das, Ghosh & Chandra, new species are described. Melolontha chinensis Guérin-Méneville, 1838 is re...

The genus Euaspis is known by three species from India viz. Euaspis carbonaria, Euaspis edentata, and Euaspis strandi. The present study reports on the occurrence of Euaspis polynesia Vachal, 1903 in India for the first time. The species has been recorded during a bee survey in Tawang district, Arunachal Pradesh, a high-altitude biodiversity hotspo...

Channa harcourtbutleri (Annandale) was described from Inle Lake (Southern Shan State) in Myanmar, and is currently considered as a valid species in the Channa gachua species-group. Notwithstanding several detailed studies on Channa from India in the recent, none has mentioned the occurrence of C. harcourtbutleri in the Indian mainland. In continuat...

Wildlife corridors that connect mosaic habitats in heterogeneous mountainous landscapes can be of high significance as they facilitate the genetic and demographic stability of free-ranging populations. Peripheral populations of widespread species are usually ignored in conservation planning. However, these populations retain locally common alleles...

Himalayan tahr is a group-living animal of high-altitude Himalaya, distributed all across the subalpine range that also formed an important prey base for large carnivores in Himalaya. The species is threatened due to habitat fragmentation, illegal poaching, and anthropogenic activities. We undertook population genetic assessment of Himalayan tahr f...

Two new species of Gerridae, Amemboa latoae Jehamalar & Dash, new species and A. zetteli Jehamalar & Dash, new species, are described from India. Amemboa latoae is described from Meghalaya and can be recognised by the presence of the two setal tufts on the flexor region of the male fore femur and the slightly dilated midlateral region of the main p...

Ichneumonidae is one of the most diverse families in the order Hymenoptera (Insecta) and holds great potential for controlling insect pest populations. However, our knowledge of their taxonomy, biology, ecology, distribution and host associations is poorly known. Indian ichneumonid fauna is comprised of about 1,200 species under 24 subfamilies (Jon...

Based on Indian Himalayan expeditions, the species Abraxas antipusilla Inoue, 1995 is reported for the first time from Eastern Himalaya, India. After two decades, differential diagnoses of males and females are presented in comparison to Abraxas pusilla Butler, 1880. Redescriptions of male and female genitalia are given. An annotated summary of hab...

The improvement and application of pest models to predict yield losses is still a challenge for the scientific community. However, pest models were targeted chiefly towards scheduling scouting or pesticide applications to deal with pest infestation. Thysanoptera (thrips) significantly impact the productivity of many economically important crops wor...

In this book, the ladybird beetles (Coleoptera: Coccinellidae) are studied from the North-East Biogeographic Zone of India, comprising the states of Assam, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura. Altogether 150 species of ladybird beetles belonging to 51 genera and 13 tribes of 2 subfamilies have been reported from this zone, representi...

The gekkonid lizard genus Hemiphyllodactylus Bleeker, 1860 is represented by seven species in India, six of which are patchily distributed across montane habitats of peninsular India and one in Andaman and Nicobar islands. Here we report the occurrence of Hemiphyllodactylus sp. in Namdapha Tiger Reserve, Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh in N...

In this study, fish surveys were conducted in 11 collections locations comprising streams, river, ponds and estuaries, and over 600 specimens were collected. A total of 53 species have been identified as belonging to 43 genera, 33 families and 13 orders. The orders of Perciformes, Gobiiformes and Mugiliformes supported the majority of fish composit...

The present chapter includes 152 species under 137 genera, 39 subfamilies, 16 families, and 09 superfamilies from the Great Nicobar Biosphere Reserve. 106 species are new records for the moth fauna of Great Nicobar. For all of the included species, first reference, material examined, distribution in India and elsewhere (outside of India), and remar...

Here we describe two new species from India: Neoserica panchmariensis Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens, new species and N. debasriae Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens, new species. Moreover, Maladera pseudohongkongica Ahrens & Fabrizi, 2016 is recorded from Jharkhand state of India for the first time. Species morphology is described and illustrated, a...

We catalogue 1,695 Indian Pyraloidea species in 509 genera. Of these, Pyralidae comprises 518 species in 182 genera, which represents 8.35% of the global Pyralidae diversity of 6,197 species. Crambidae are represented by 1,177 species in 327 genera, accounting for 11.29% of the global Crambidae diversity of 10,418 species. Botys medullalis Snellen,...

Species with sympatric distribution influence ecosystem dynamics and are impacted by the presence of other co-existing species. Assessing the coexistence and the role of interspecific interactions with the landscape variables is necessary to know the species co-occurrence in space. In the Indian Himalayan region, such studies are completely lacking...

The political boundaries of the Republic of India are known to harbour about 447 species of amphibians and 681 species of reptiles. About 73% of the amphibians and 47% of the reptiles are endemic to the country, i.e. found nowhere else on Earth. Indian herpetofauna is poorly studied with few detailed comprehensive works on their taxonomy, biology,...

In the recent past, the invasive species became a matter of great concern across the globe as they were introduced from one geographic area to the other or from native geographic ranges to beyond its boundary either intentionally, unintentionally, or accidentally. But, the matter of apprehension suggests on some selected species which make their es...

Animals are the major contributor to biodiversity with the presence of 1,637,932 valid and extant species under 34 phyla, while it is estimated that a total of around 5–30 million species are available on this planet. India contributes only 6.02% of known species of animals with 102,161 species. Apart from Subphylum Vertebrata under the Phylum Chor...

Large forested landscapes often harbour significant amount of biodiversity and support human society by rendering various livelihood opportunities and ecosystem services. Their periodic assessment for health and ecological integrity is essential for timely mitigation of any negative impact of human use due to over harvesting of natural resources or...

India is known for its rich heritage of biological diversity and is home to 102,616 animals and 49,441 plants species. The country is placed among the top ten natural resource-rich nations and with a high level of endemism. The varied edaphic, climatic, and topographic variability has resulted in a diversity of ecosystems covering forests, wetlands...

DNA barcoding substantiates species identification, and simultaneously indicates the misnomer taxa. Based on the morphological descriptions, we identified a lesser-known catfish, Clupisoma bastari, from Godavari River basin, and contributed novel DNA barcode data to the GenBank. The Kimura 2 parameter genetic divergence between species, and the nei...

The state Himachal Pradesh in Western Himalaya was explored to know the community structure of earthworms in agroecosystems along the elevation gradient ranges from 300 to 2500 m above sea level. The study aimed to determine the influence of climate, soil variables and the cropping pattern on species diversity and abundance. Therefore, a total of s...

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia) plays a vital role in maintaining the integrity of the high mountain ecosystem by regulating prey populations and maintaining plant community structure. Therefore, it is necessary to understand the role of the snow leopard and its interaction with prey species. Further, elucidating landscape use and co-occurrence o...

This paper aims to describe, illustrate and diagnose Bolboceras krikkeni Gupta, Ghosh, Das & Chandra, new species as the fourth species in the B. inaequale species group.

This field guide book on Indian birds with proper colour photographs and identification key pointers, make this book significantly different from others. These pointers have been given for confusing or similar looking species thereby one can easily identify the species by looking at the characters highlighted. A detail distribution map is also give...

Brown bear-mediated conflicts have caused immense economic loss to the local people living across the distribution range. In India, limited knowledge is available on the Himalayan brown bear (HBB), making human-brown bear conflict (HBC) mitigation more challenging. In this study, we studied HBC in the Lahaul valley using a semi-structured questionn...

Cyanotiphia ruficauda Cameron, 1907 is the genotype of the monotypic genus Cyanotiphia Cameron, 1907. This species was previously known from a single female specimen, the holotype; after an extended period of 114 years, the male of this species is firstly described from North Sumatra, Indonesia. Material information of additional female records is...

In this document, 15,541 faunal species/subspecies classified under 5,884 genera and 994 families are documented in this document from Deccan Peninsula Biogeographic Zone.

Despite showing high resilience and adaptation to various types of habitats including human-dominated landscape, barking deer have experienced considerable threats due to habitat loss, poaching, and competition for resources with other deer species. In the present study, we examined the population genetic parameters of barking deer from the Indian...

We report the first photographic evidence of sambar (Rusa unicolor) from Pangolakha Wildlife Sanctuary and adjoining area of East Sikkim during April-May 2019. A total of twenty-five photographs of sambar were captured by our camera traps placed at two locations with elevations 2137 m and 2655 m asl. Furthermore, photographic capture of sambar thro...

Arunachal macaque (M. munzala) is an endangered and recently discovered cercopithecine primate from Western Arunachal Pradesh, India. On genetic analyses of Arunachal macaques, we observed spatially distributed substantial inter-species genetic divergence among the samples collected from Arunachal Pradesh. The results suggested that Arunachal macaq...

Culex mosquitoes are important vectors of various pathogens to both humans and animals. The present study describes a new species to science as Culex (Culex) kodaikanalensis Suman, Veer and Chandra sp. nov. based on morphology, morphometrics of adult females and mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase I and 16S rRNA genes. This species, Cx. kodaikanalensi...

The Psyra Walker, 1860, is a typical Sino-Himalayan genus of the subfamily Ennominae, currently known by 18 species/4 subspecies globally and 9 species from India. This study aims to revise the taxonomy and ecology of Indian Psyra by providing a morphology-based diagnostic key, highlighting their altitudinal, habitat and seasonal preferences, and m...

In this article, we describe a new species, Patania shompen Singh & Ahmad, sp. n. from Great Nicobar Island. The differential diagnosis of the new species is provided with the Patania iopasalis (Walker, 1859), Patania obfuscalis (Yamanaka, 1998) and Patania clava Xu & Du, 2016.

Journal: J. Environ. & Sociobiol. Print: ISSN: 0973-0834

Background: Genetics driven interventions if adopted in conservation breeding projects may enhance the overall success by prioritizing breeding among genetically most competent individuals and delaying or completely diminishing the ill effects of inbreeding. Methods and results: In the present study, we investigated genetic make-up of 15 tigers...

We describe a new genus for the Spilomelinae: Conogethes alboflavalis Moore, 1888, known to occur in India and Nepal. We provide diagnostic characters for the new genus and comparison with the closely related genera, Conogethes Meyrick, 1884 and Pycnarmon Lederer, 1863.

Altogether, 34 specimens were collected, which revealed the identification of 20 species belonging to 17 genera and 12 subfamilies under four families of Orthoptera. The maximum number of specimens belong to the family Acrididae. In terms of species richness, subfamily Oedipodinae was the maximum (25%) followed by Acridinae, Hemiacridinae, Oxyinae...

A new species of longhorn beetle, Pelossus indicus sp. nov., is described from Chhattisgarh State, India. This is the first report of this genus from India and the sixth species of Pelossus from Asia. Images of the habitus and genitalia have been provided.

Aspidimerus birmanicus (Gorham, 1895), Cryptogonus nepalensis bhuta-nensis Bielawski, 1979, Henosepilachna processa Li et Cook, 1961, Sticholotis punctata Crotch, 1874, and Synona consanguinea Poorani Ślipiński et Booth, 2008 are reported for the first time from India. The diagnosis, illustrations and the map of distribution of these species are al...

Altogether 14,630 species/subspecies of both Protozoa (522) and Animalia (14,108) are known from Gangetic Plains. Phylum Arthropoda with 10,997 species/subspecies represents approximately 74.64% of the total diversity. Among the vertebrates, 233 species of fishes, 38 species of amphibians, 136 species of reptiles, 713 species of birds, and 125 spec...

A perusal of literature and the current study indicates that a total of forty-one species of aquatic and semi-aquatic bugs including a new record are presently reported from Punjab.

The the present study is based on 57 species under 49 genera belonging to 14 families from the state of Haryana. Of which 25 species under 22 genera belonging to 7 families are recorded for the first time from the state of Haryana.

The present chapter is mainly a literature-based study on the mangrove inhibiting hemipteran fauna in India. As far as knowledge on the hemipteran association with mangrove in India is concerned, very scattered information is available except Sundarban from where several species have been recorded by the different authors in the recent past. A peru...

The present chapter is mainly a literature-based study on the Agroecosystems inhibiting hemipteran fauna in India. As far as knowledge on the hemipteran association with Agroecosystems in India are concerned, very scattered information is available, where several species have been recorded by the different authors in the recent past. A perusal of l...

The present study describes Culex (Culex) gaugleri sp. nov. (Diptera: Culicidae) from Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu, India based on morphological characters and the DNA sequences, after comparing with other closely related species. The presence of banded and spotted wing classified Culex gaugleri sp. nov. in the Mimeticus subgroup of the genus, Culex Li...

Two most recently described macaque species; the White Cheeked Macaque (Macaca leucogenys) and Arunachal Macaque (Macaca munzala) were discovered from a single biodiversity hotspot, the Eastern Himalaya. We conducted surveys in the West Siang, Arunachal Pradesh, India and collected five faeces and two skin samples of macaques that on DNA analysis i...

The genus Xenortholitha Inoue, 1944 is mainly distributed in the Sino-Japanese and Indian Himalayan Region (IHR). The current communication reports the first distributional record of Xenortholitha falcata Yazaki, 1993 from western Himalaya, India extending its range far westwards from its previously known range in Eastern Nepal. We provide a brief...

Trachypithecus geei Khajuria, 1956 or Golden langur are an endangered colobine primate species that are distributed in the transboundary region of Bhutan and India. The species is severely threatened because of increasing habitat fragmentation and isolation across its entire range, especially the populations in Assam, India. The distribution range...

Gorals are distributed in varied ranges of habitats in South and South–East Asia, and the existence of the number of species in the genus Naemorhedus has been greatly debated from time to time. A school of thought supports the presence of three species, while a recent genetic study recognizes five species of goral throughout their distribution rang...

The genetic information (mtCytb) of wide-spread Mock Viper, Psammodynastes pulverulentus is restricted to China and Myanmar. We collected the live individual of P. pulverulentus from Mizoram state in northeast India and generate the partial mtCytb data to affirm the morphology-based species identification. The generated DNA data showed 94.67% sim...

The present study discusses the systematic accounts of ten species of the family Notodontidae recorded here for the first time from India. The species were collected from different parts of Indian Himalaya, the majority being reported from the Dihang-Dibang Biosphere Reserve, Arunachal Pradesh. Among these ten species, we present two new combinatio...

Himalayan monal is a conservation priority species in its entire distribution range because of its declining population due to various anthropogenic threats. However, the information on its distribution and abundance is lacking, which is vital for conservation and management planning. Hence, the present study has assessed the abundance and occupanc...

This catalogue lists 46 valid species included in 7 genera and two subfamilies of the family Hydraenidae (Coleoptera), recorded from India. The subfamily Hydraeninae accommodates 24 species (5 genera), and Ochthebiinae 22 species (2 genera). We include synonyms, type localities, type depositories, and distribution of the species. The Himalayan regi...

An annotated list of species of the superfamily Apoidea from Himachal Pradesh is provided with their valid names and their distribution globally and in Indian states. This will be of immense value as the foundation work for the state. A total of 199 species belonging to 33 genera, 9 subfamilies, and 6 families have been reported from the state of H...

Here we present a new record of Microserica nicobarensis (Redtenbacher, 1868) and describe further two new species from India: Nepaloserica cheemaensis Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens new species, and Maladera reyaensis Bhunia, Gupta, Chandra & Ahrens, new species. Species morphology is described and illustrated, and their distribution is shown on...

Two new species of the genus Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966 are described based on the materials collected from Namdapha National Park, Changlang, Arunachal Pradesh. An identification key to the Indian species of the genus Elaphropoda has been prepared along with a checklist of the world.

The snow leopard (Panthera uncia), one of the most threatened felids distributed along the high-altitude mountains in the Himalayas, has experienced a steady population decline in most of its distribution range due to the loss of suitable habitats, anthropogenic activities, and retaliatory killings. We undertook the genetic assessment of the snow l...

The present paper adds to the knowledge of the family Mantispidae from India. Herein we describe two new Euclimacia species: E. similis sp. nov. from Madhya Pradesh and E. nicobarica sp. nov. from Andaman & Nicobar Islands. A new combination is also proposed: Mantispilla coorgensis (Ohl, 2004a) comb. nov. With these additions, the family is now rep...

Exploring the gut microbiome is an emerging tool for monitoring wildlife health and physiological conditions which often sustained under the variety of stresses and challenges. We analyzed gut microbiome of Arunachal macaque (Macaca munzala) of two disjunct populations from Arunachal Pradesh, India, to validate whether the geography or the feeding...

Within the scope of our long-term biodiversity assessment for the Indian Himalayan region, shells of Carychium indicum were collected in the Great Himalayan National Park in Kullu District (Shakti Village) of Himachal Pradesh (31°47'04.2"N, 77°26'31.308"E). These finds constitute a new record for this species in the relative region of Benson’s type...

Background The common leopard (Panthera pardus fusca), which persists in most of its historic range, is experiencing steady population decline due to habitat loss, anthrophonic disturbances, illegal poaching for their body parts, and retaliatory killings in response to the leopard-human conflicts.Methods and resultsWe analysed 143 scats samples and...

Establishing species identity in wildlife forensics and anthropology is pre-requisite fo prosecution of the legal cases and successful implementation of the regional laws and acts. However, identifying osteological collection, e.g., bones, skulls and skeleton of phylogenetically closely related species is a daunting task due to the taxonomic simila...

Background The sambar (Rusa unicolor) is one of the largest deer distributed across diverse habitats of India and threatened due to habitat loss, changes in the land-use patterns, illegal poaching, and anthropogenic disturbances. Here, we report the first population genetics account of sambar deer from the Western Himalayas.Methods and resultsWe ob...

The Kotumsar cave is situated in the Eastern Ghats and has been reported by the existence of 14 different organisms morphologically. To reassess the living taxa and hitherto unreported organisms, intervention of molecular tool is required to corroborate the exact faunal diversity. In the present study, we dealt with the environmental samples and op...

In this paper, we report Ambulyx tattina (Jordan, 1919) from the Great Nicobar, a new addition to the Sphingid fauna of India. Additionally, we report four species of Sphingidae i.e., Apocalypsis velox Butler, 1876, Cechenena helops helops (Walker, 1856), Pergesa acteus(Cramer, [1779]), and Theretra silhetensis (Walker, 1856) for the first time fro...

Background Himalayan goral (Naemorhedus goral), solitary cliff-dwelling species and are distributed throughout the Indian Himalayan region. Its populations across the range are facing severe threats due to habitat loss, fragmentation and changes in the land-use patterns by various anthropogenic activities.Methods and resultsWe carried out genetic a...