@article {166868, title = {A new species of Chonala Moore, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Nymphalidae) from northeastern India}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5828}, year = {2026}, month = {Jun.}, pages = {575{\textendash}586}, abstract = {

We describe a new species of nymphalid butterfly, Chonala albistricta sp. nov. (Satyrinae: Satyrini) from Mayodia pass, Lower Dibang Valley District, Arunachal Pradesh, India, based on two male and one female specimens. The new species may be distinguished from the similar C. masoni (Elwes, 1882) by a distinctly narrower, unevenly bent white band on the forewing and other morphological traits, and differences in the tip of valve of the male genitalia. Additional notes are provided on the distributional range, habits and habitat, and phenology.

}, keywords = {butterfly taxonomy, Indian butterflies, Lepidoptera, new species, Species discovery, taxonomic description}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5828.3.10}, url = {https://www.mapress.com/zt/article/view/zootaxa.5828.3.10}, author = {Kunte, Krushnamegh and Khan, Fahim and Pawar, Ujwala} } @article {152903, title = {Natural and sexual selection and functional roles influence colouration but not the amount of variation in butterfly wing colour patterns.}, journal = {BMC Ecol Evol}, volume = {25}, year = {2025}, month = {2025 Jan 17}, pages = {11}, abstract = {

BACKGROUND: Trait variation is shaped by functional roles of traits and the strength and direction of selection acting on the traits. We hypothesized that in butterflies, sexually selected colouration is more variable owing to condition-dependent nature and directional selection on sexual ornaments, whereas naturally selected colouration may be less variable because of stabilising selection. We measured reflectance spectra, and extracted colour parameters, to compare the amount of variation in sexually versus naturally selected colour patches across wing surfaces and sexes of 20 butterfly species across 4 families (Nymphalidae, Papilionidae, Pieridae, Lycaenidae).

RESULTS: We found that: (a) males had more conspicuous, i.e., brighter and more saturated colour patches compared with females (as expected of sexually selected traits but not necessarily of naturally selected traits), and (b) dorsal surfaces in both sexes had more conspicuous sexual ornaments as well as protective (aposematic/mimetic) colour patches on darker wing backgrounds, compared with ventral surfaces. However, colour patches did not differ in the amount of variation either in selection (ecological/sexual functions), sex or wing surface-specific manner.

CONCLUSIONS: These findings show that functional roles and selection influence colour parameters but not the amount of variation in butterfly wing colour patterns.

}, keywords = {Animals, Butterflies, Color, Female, Male, Pigmentation, Selection, Genetic, Sex Characteristics, Sexual Selection, Wings, Animal}, issn = {2730-7182}, doi = {10.1186/s12862-024-02346-8}, author = {Dharmaraaj, Bhavya and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {131933, title = {A new species of Piarosoma Hampson, 1893 (Lepidoptera, Zygaenidae, Procridinae, Artonini) from Arunachal Pradesh, India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5270}, year = {2024}, month = {2023 Apr 19}, pages = {139-145}, abstract = {

A new species, Piarosoma arunachalensis sp. nov., is described and illustrated based on external characters and the genitalia of two male specimens from Tale Wildlife Sanctuary, Lower Subansiri District, Arunachal Pradesh, India. The new species is distinguished from other Piarosoma by a combination of: a) presence of large hyaline patches on the wings, b) the absence of any white or yellow markings on the patagia and the abdominal segments, and c) differences in male genitalia.

}, keywords = {Animals, Animals, Wild, Genitalia, Genitalia, Male, India, Lepidoptera, Male, Moths}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5270.1.9}, author = {Sondhi, Sanjay and Efetov, Konstantin A and Tarmann, Gerhard M and Karmakar, Tarun and Pawar, Ujwala and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {139056, title = {A new species of silverline butterfly, Cigaritis Donzel, 1847 (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), from the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India.}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {5399}, year = {2024}, month = {2024 Jan 10}, pages = {85-95}, abstract = {

A new species, Cigaritis conjuncta sp. nov. (Lepidoptera: Lycaenidae), is described based on five male and four female specimens from Honey Valley, Kodagu District, Karnataka, which is part of the Western Ghats biodiversity hotspot, India. Cigaritis conjuncta sp. nov. is distinguished from all other congeners in India and Sri Lanka based on the following combination of diagnostic characters in the male: (a) dorsal forewing outer half, costal margin and nearly upper half of the cell black without orange markings, the remaining wing shining deep blue, (b) dorsal hindwing tornus pale orange-red with two black spots, (c) ventral forewing bands at end of discal cell conjoined, and (e) ventral hindwing subbasal and discal bands composed of spots that are not separated but conjoined to form broad bands that have irregular outlines, leaving only a narrow background colour in between. Female is similar on the ventral side, but entirely dark brown above. Male and female genitalia are dissected and figured for two paratypes of each sex, and natural history notes on the species are provided.

}, keywords = {Animals, Biodiversity, Butterflies, Female, India, Lepidoptera, Male}, issn = {1175-5334}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5399.1.7}, author = {Kunte, Krushnamegh and Sengupta, Ashok and Pawar, Ujwala and Nawge, Viraj} } @article {103920, title = {A new species of Zographetus Watson, 1893 (Lepidoptera: Hesperiidae) from Sikkim, eastern Himalaya, India}, journal = {ZOOTAXA }, volume = {5072}, year = {2021}, month = {12/2021}, pages = {373-379}, abstract = {

A new species, Zographetus dzonguensis sp. nov., is described based on three male specimens from Upper Dzongu, North Sikkim District, Sikkim, India. The new species is closely similar to Z. pangi from Guangdong and Z. hainanensis from Hainan, China, from which it is distinguished based on the following combination of external characters: (a) forewing with the white spot at the base of space M3 being sharply pointed at the inner edge and conspicuously more elongated, and (b) on underside of hindwing, all chocolate-brown spots being smaller, in Z. dzonguensis sp. nov. compared with both Z. pangi and Z. hainanensis. In Z. dzonguensis sp. nov., the male genitalia may be distinguished as follows: (c) tegumen and uncus are almost equal in length, (d) the dorsal outline of tegumen is relatively flat, and (e) saccus is distinctly bent upward as angle between vinculum and saccus is more acute than in Z. pangi and Z. hainanensis.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.5072.4.4}, author = {Karmakar, Tarun and Lepcha, Sonam Wangchuk and Basu, Dipendra Nath and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {83747, title = {A new species of Metallolophia Warren, 1895 (Lepidoptera: Geometridae: Geometrinae), and notes on M. opalina (Warren, 1893), from eastern Himalaya, India}, journal = {ZOOTAXA}, volume = {4838}, year = {2020}, month = {08/2020}, pages = {289-297}, abstract = {

A new species, Metallolophia tale ensis, sp. nov., is described and illustrated from Tale Wildlife Sanctuary, Lower Subansiri District. Arunachal Pradesh, India, based on male specimens. A second species, Metallolophia opalina (Warren, 1893), is recorded from India after more than a century, extending its range eastwards into Arunachal Pradesh, India.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4838.2.9}, author = {Sondhi, Sanjay and Basu, Dipendra Nath and Sondhi, Yash and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {25709, title = {A new species of Platypleura Amyot \& Audinet-Serville, 1843 (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) from the Eastern Ghats of Andhra Pradesh, India}, journal = {Zootaxa}, volume = {4311}, year = {2017}, month = {08/2017}, pages = {523-536}, abstract = {

We here describe a new cicada species, Platypleura poorvachala sp. nov., (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Cicadinae) from the Eastern Ghats of India. The combination of following characters distinguishes this species from its platypleurine relatives: (a) transverse continuous infuscation along the nodal line and in the central area of the forewings, and (b) opaque hindwings, which are indochine-coloured with two prominent sub-distal black bands. We illustrate the male and female types and the male genitalia, and present a photographic plate for comparison of this species with other Indian and Southeast Asian Platypleura species with respect to its morphology and distribution.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4311.4.5}, author = {Marathe, Kiran and Yeshwanth, HM and Basu, DN and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {28260, title = {A new species of Theretra Hubner (Lepidoptera: Sphingidae) from the southern Western Ghats, India}, journal = {ZOOTAXA}, volume = {4323}, year = {2017}, month = {09/2017}, pages = {185-196}, abstract = {

A new species of the genus Theretra Hubner [1819], Theretra shendurneensis sp. nov., is described from Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary, southern Western Ghats, India, based on external and internal morphology, and genetic markers. The new species is compared in external and male genital morphology, genetic divergence and geographic range with three similar and closely related species: T. boisduvalii (Bugnion, 1839), T. sumatrensis (Joicey and Kaye, 1917) and T. rhesus (Boisduval, [1875]). Recent changes to the classification of Theretra are discussed and rejected.

}, doi = {10.11646/zootaxa.4323.2.2}, author = {Sondhi, Yash and Kitching, Ian J. and Basu, Dipendra Nath and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {2214, title = {A new species of the genus Thaicharmus Kova{\v r}{\'\i}k, 1995 (Scorpiones: Buthidae) from northeast India}, journal = {Euscorpius}, volume = {215}, year = {2016}, pages = {1-11}, abstract = {

A new species Thaicharmus guptai sp. nov. is described from the northeast Indian state of Tripura. The new species differs from the known members of the genus in the following set of morphological characters: large size (total length 45.6 mm); trichobothrium d2 is distal to i1 on femur; trichobothria est, em and et on the external surface of the patella do not form a straight line. Subaculear tubercle is absent. The movable finger of pedipalp chela has 12 cutting rows of denticles. The movable finger is much longer than the pedipalp patella. Number of pectinal teeth 20/19; pectines with distinct lamellae and fulcra. Two horn-like projections are present on the ventrolateral aspect of the metasomal segment V.

}, author = {Mirza, Z.A and Sanap, R.V. and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {8347, title = {New status for Fraser{\textquoteright}s forgotten Aciagrion approximans krishna, stat. nov (Odonata: Zygoptera: Coenagrionidae) from the Western Ghats of India}, journal = {International Journal of Odonatology}, volume = {19}, year = {2016}, month = {07/2016}, pages = {41-51}, chapter = {41}, abstract = {

Aciagrion Selys, 1891 is one of the taxonomically difficult and poorly known genera of Oriental damselflies. Aciargion hisopa race krishna Fraser, 1921 Fraser, F. C. (1921). A list of dragonflies from Mahableshwar. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 25, 540{\textendash}543. Retrieved from http://medusa.jcu.edu.au was described from Mahabaleshwar, Maharashtra, India. However, later Fraser (1933 Fraser, F. C. (1933). The fauna of British India, including Ceylon and Burma: Odonata (Vol. 1). London: Taylor and Francis.) doubted the taxonomic necessity of this taxon. His notion of Aciagrion hisopa (Selys, 1876) was erroneous, as evidenced by syntypes of this species in Selys{\textquoteright} collection, so the ssp. krishna is not conspecific with A. hisopa. Topotypic specimens of ssp. krishna from the Western Ghats were compared to specimens of Aciagrion approximans (Selys, 1876) from the Khasi Hills, Meghalaya, which are topotypical because of the recent designation of the neotype of this species in Selys{\textquoteright} collection. These two series were found to be very close to each other but differing at the level of subspecies, so we propose a new subspecies status and combination, Aciagrion approximans krishna Fraser, 1921 Fraser, F. C. (1921). A list of dragonflies from Mahableshwar. The Journal of the Bombay Natural History Society, 25, 540{\textendash}543. Retrieved from http://medusa.jcu.edu.au. The range and geographical variation of A. approximans beyond India is clarified.

}, doi = {10.1080/13887890.2016.1166463}, author = {Joshi, Shantanu and Kosterin, Oleg E and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {2211, title = {A new species of damselfly, Protosticta ponmudiensis (Odonata: Zygoptera: Platystictidae) from Ponmudi Hills in the Western Ghats of India}, journal = {Journal of Threatened Taxa}, volume = {7}, year = {2015}, pages = {7146-7151}, author = {Kiran, C. G. and Kalesh, S. and Kunte, Krushnamegh} } @article {2210, title = {A new species of Hypolycaena (Lepidoptera: Lycenidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, north-eastern India}, journal = {The Journal of Research on the Lepidoptera}, volume = {48}, year = {2015}, pages = {21-27}, author = {Kunte, Krushnamegh} }