135 moth species documented from aChennai neighbourhood, largely from one apartment

Three millennial naturalists prepare a paper on these 135 lepidopterans, which sees the light at threatenedtaxa.org

Away from the glare of the concrete jungle, attracting moths is as easy as a five-finger piano exercise. Actually, easier than that. Just a plain white screen generously washed with the rays of a properly placed light source would leave one beady-eyed from going sleepless, counting these lepidopterans.

At his home in North Carolina that is removed from the bustle, Vikas Madhav Nagarajan has had the pleasure of hosting 65 moth species in one night, with a black light-lit moth screen playing the genial usher. Before May 2021, when he moved to the United States for higher studies, at his apartment in Valmiki Nagar, Thiruvanmiyur, Vikas discovered the limitations of moth screens — no matter how brightly and cleverly lit — amidst the unblinking, sleepless lights of a bustling urban space. A criss-cross of competing lights is hardly good news for moth-spotting.