Moth diversity of Guindy, Chennai, India and DNA barcoding of selected erebid moths

In this study, diversity of moths has been documented from Chennai, the capital city of Tamil Nadu. During the study, over 100 specimens were collected from which 59 moth species were identified from the commercial hub of Chennai, Guindy. The species identified belonged to 52 genera, 11 families, and 25 subfamilies. Erebidae was a front runner, followed by Crambidae, Geometridae, Sphingidae, and Noctuidae. Furthermore, Eupterotidae, Uraniidae, Nolidae, Lasiocampidae, Pterophoridae, and Thyrididae were the least recorded families. Among 26 erebids, 14 species were subjected for identification through mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit 1 gene to resolve the ambiguity. The sequences resulted were deposited in GenBank and BOLD system where they received accession numbers and process IDs. Further, phylogenetic analysis categorized Metanastria hyrtaca Cramer, 1782 in a separate clade.