Rare moths mapped at Kumari sanctuary

A 24-year-old research scholar, pursuing her doctoral degree in Zoology at the Lady Doak College in Madurai, has so far documented around 450 species of moths at the Kanniyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary -- home to diverse species of moths that have largely remained unidentified.

- M ABDUL RABI @ Kanniyakumari

The research fellow -- Vidhya Ananthavel, a native of Virudhunagar -- took up the study as part of her PhD research eight months ago. She identified the insects using the light sheeting method through surveys, carried out from dusk till dawn, as most moths are nocturnal, at multiple sites across the sanctuary.