An inventory of geometrid moths ( Lepidoptera : Geometroidea : Geometridae ) of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve , India

The geometrid moths of Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger reserve were studied during the years 2012 to 2016. Since collection of specimens was not permitted, only field notes, accompanied by photo documentation was undertaken. Two-hundred-and-sixty geometrid moths identified to various hierarchical levels of taxa and one new genus for southern India, are reported.


Kalakad-Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)
is located at the southern Western Ghats, in the Agasthyamalai range, approximately between 8.416N and 8.883N latitude and 77.166E and 77.583E longitude. It falls within Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli districts of the State of Tamil Nadu, India and is part of the Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. With a core area of 895.39 km 2 , KMTR was established as a tiger reserve in 1988 through the merger of Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary, Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, and parts of Veerapuli and Kilamalai reserve forests, from Kanyakumari district. The Nellai Wildlife Sanctuary, encompassing an area of 35.9 km 2 , in the north and 201.36 km 2 of the Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary towards the south form the buffer area of the reserve. The elevation ranges 100-1,880 m. Thus, a gradient of vegetation ranging from dry scrub to dense evergreen forest is found here. The reserve receives close to 3,000 mm of rainfall from both the south-west and north-east monsoons. It serves as a catchment area for no less than 14 rivers and streams. For this reason, it is sometimes referred to as a river sanctuary. The Agasthyamalai hills, which includes the core area of KMTR, are an important biogeographical 'hot spot' within the Western Ghats and a region of endemism in India (UNESCO 2016).
Being a tiger reserve, the biodiversity studies in this region have largely been focussed on mammals, herpetofauna, and plants for many years. Recent studies on invertebrates have been mostly on spiders or butterflies, and moths have not received any attention. This study is an attempt to enumerate the geometrid moths of this reserve. It is the first-of-its-kind study of moth diversity for this region, covering all habitats of the reserve, through seasons over multiple years.
Geometridae (Stephens, 1829) constitute the second largest family of moths in India, with at least 2,043 species listed so far (Kirti et al. 2019;Sondhi et al. 2020;Dey et al. 2021) from India. A large number of these slender moths, are mostly nocturnal, but day flying and crepuscular species are not uncommon. Some geometrids are strongly haired but most are examples of least-haired moths. In the forests of KMTR, we have observed them arrive in large numbers when the mist begins to set in. Protective colouration and camouflage were observed. Polymorphism was noticeable in many species. This paper outlines through photographic records, the diversity of geometrid moths arising out of a five-year survey in KMTR.
Geometrids have been reported from other parts of Western Ghats too: 77 species from Silent Valley National Park by Mathew & Rahamathulla (1995); six species by Bharmal (2015) from Amboli, Maharashtra and four species by Mishra et al. (2016) from Kodagu. From Kerala there are records of 47 species from Shendurney-Ponmudi by Sondhi et al. (2018). Elenchezhian et al. (2014) reported 28 species from Maruthamalai hills and Goyal (2010) described 19 species for his PhD. The last two are the only recently published records from Tamil Nadu and even these studies were restricted to Madurai and Nilgiri districts. A literature survey of the older Indian records in Moore (1884Moore ( -7,1889 or Hampson (1891Hampson ( , 1893 finds no mention of moths from Kalakad or Mundanthurai. A few scattered records of geometrids from 'Travancore State' are available. The State of Travancore was dissolved soon after India attained independence and the places under its jurisdiction were distributed between the present States of Kerala and Tamil Nadu. Kanyakumari, from the erstwhile southern part of Travancore State, thus became a part of Tamil Nadu. Published records of geometrid moths from the southern part of the erstwhile Travancore State are not available. Hence it is safe to assume that there are no historical records of moths from this region. Some moth species have been recorded from KMTR in recent years by other researchers. Ron Brechlin described a sphingid, Ambulyx sinjaevi (Brechlin 1998), and a saturniid, Loepa schintlmeisteri (Brechlin 2000); Stauropus thiaucourti, a notodontid moth, was reported by Schintlmeister (2003); a cossid Phragmacossia brahmana, by Yakovlev (2009) and three geometrid species, Racotis keralaria, Ophthalmitis kalakadaria, and Hypomecis tamilensis, were described by Sato (2004Sato ( , 2014Sato ( , 2016. All these species were recorded from Manjolai (8.250N and 77.433E), a very small area of a few sq. km. All of them were new to science. There are no other published records of geometrids from KMTR. Thus, most of the moths presented are previously unrecorded, several unidentified and still to be described or species that are range extensions. One of them is a new record for southern India. Hence the moth inventory in this paper is the first attempt to generate a comprehensive list of geometrid moths found in this Tiger Reserve.

Study sites
The moths listed in this paper were extensively surveyed from within the core area of KMTR during the J TT years 2012 to 2015, covering most of the months except July and August, primarily due to lack of access during the monsoons. Moths were surveyed very briefly in the year 2016 and again, extensively, in the year 2019. The sites of study were Talayanai, Sengeltheri, Kuthiraivetti, Upper Kothayar, Mundanthurai, and Kannikatti. The list also includes geometrids from one of the buffer zones of KMTR, namely Kanyakumari Wildlife Sanctuary (KKWS), from sites located at Maramalai and Kalikesam (Table 1 & Figure 1-3. Locations and sites of study). Permission for collection was not available from the core or the buffer area of KMTR as the sites are within a legally protected area.
Some moths presented are not part of the planned survey, but were opportunistic observations during the years 2016, 2018, and early 2019. All sites being within the core regions of the Tiger Reserve, surveys were dependent on permissions from forest department, weather conditions, availability of accommodation, and finance. The entire study was self-funded by the first author.

Survey methods
Moths were surveyed using a light trap consisting of a 160W mercury vapour bulb hung above a white cotton sheet measuring 3 x 5 feet (0.9144 x 1.524 meters), stretched between either two posts, trees, window bars, or sometimes, nails on a wall. Wherever electricity was not available (Sengeltheri and Kannikatti), a kerosene or petrol-powered Honda generator was used. The white cloth screen was illuminated starting at 1800 h or 1830 h, depending upon sunset, until 0130 h. Where mains electricity was available, the MV bulb was kept on till 0400 h. Diurnal activity of moths was noted at all locations.
Digital photographs were taken using a Panasonic FZ 200 and a Panasonic FZ 35 with a Lumix lens. Field notes were recorded for morphological details and of features that could not be captured through photography.

J TT
prime sources of reference. Other than these sources, several research papers and books were also consulted. The second author referred extensively with the museum specimens at ZFMK, to arrive at identifications, and the third author used Moths of India website for the same. The classification in the paper, unless specified otherwise, follows that of Murillo-Ramos et al. (2019).
It is an established fact that without a specimen in hand, identification to the level of species is an extremely difficult task for many cryptic moth species. Hence, without specimens and therefore absence of genitalia information, it was not possible to identify all geometrids to the species level. Identifications, in such cases, have been limited to the level of subfamily, tribe or genus. For some individuals, where records or field data were insufficient, we have suggested provisional identifications. From our investigations, we believe that some of these could well be either new species to science or range extensions.
As this was the first comprehensive survey undertaken in this Tiger Reserve, most of the moths were first records for KMTR. They were also first records for the districts of Kanyakumari and Tirunelveli in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Findings from the study
Three-hundred-and-ninety geometrids belonging to five subfamilies were investigated. Only 260 are presented in this paper with identities at different levels. Six taxa were identified to the level of subfamily and six to the level of tribe. While 98 taxa were identified to genus level, 160 taxa, which included males, females as well as morphs, were identified to the level of species. Thirtyfour taxa are reported with provisional identifications using Open Nomenclature qualifiers (Box 1). They have been identified to the nearest recognisable species for comparison, or to a possible species close to them for further study.
Investigations have pointed to the possibility of some new species among the many tentatively identified or unidentified moth records. We hope this baseline survey report will assist in obtaining permission to collect and thus initiate a more detailed study of moths in this region.
Abbreviations used to indicate a taxon's provisional status of identification are termed as Open Nomenclature qualifiers. These qualifiers are used by researchers from different disciplines with some variations in interpretations. The qualifiers we have used for provisional identifications in this paper are 'cf.' and 'nr'. These terms have been used with the following interpretations: cf. This is short for the Latin word confero/conferatur, meaning, 'to compare with'. We have used it to indicate that the species identification is provisional but is likely to be conclusive when we have more data, when it is further compared or crosschecked with reference materials, or discussed with a specialist of the taxon. The degree of uncertainty is less when compared with the term 'nr'.
nr This is short for 'near'. This qualifier has been used when the moth bears some similarities or resemblances to a known species. It appears closely related but is not identical to it.

Subfamily Sterrhinae Meyrick, 1892
Plates 1-2 (5-36) The classification of moths of this subfamily (Table  3) follows the most recent revision by Sihvonen et al. (2020). Of the 34 moths observed, 31 individuals from seven tribes were identified either to the genera or species level. Three individuals could not be identified further. Sihvonen et al. (2020) mention in their paper that a large number of species of this cosmopolitan family, comprising of nearly 3,000 moth-species worldwide, fall under the genera Idaea Treitschke, 1825 or Scopula Schrank, 1802. This abundance was reflected in our survey too.

Idaea Treitschke, 1825
Plate 2 (23-30) Idaea Treitschke, 1825 is a genus with hundreds of small and very similar species which are difficult to identify even with voucher specimens in hand. In their absence, we have relied on published records and museum specimens. We report only three indivduals of Idaea (out of the 10 individuals), whose wing patterns were unique enough to be identified to species level. While researching to confirm Idaea gemmaria Hampson, 1896, (Plate 2(23)), we came across Holloway's statement in Moths of Borneo (Holloway 1997) about the taxon "I. gemmataria", Hampson (Sri Lanka). On contacting Dr Holloway (pers. comm., 21.ix.2020), he clarified that, "it was indeed an error arising at some stage between his reading the handwritten name in the museum collection and the final appearance of his text in print! The correct name of the species described by Hampson was indeed I. gemmaria". This has helped confirm the identity of the species.
The next most common species were from the genus Scopula Schrank, 1802 (Plates 1-2 (15-19)). Out of five individuals observed, two have been identified to the species level.
The key given by Xue et al. (2018) for the pattern of ocellus in the wings, descriptions and comparison with specimens in the ZFMK ollection, were used to identify Problepsis apollinaria Guenée, [1858] and P. deliaria Guenée, [1858] (Plate 1 (13-14)). All of the Sterrhinae listed are new records for KMTR.

Subfamily Larentiinae Duponchel, 1845
Plates 3-4 (37-60) This is the second largest subfamily amongst Geometridae. Worldwide, 6,200 species (Õunap et al. 2016) have been described so far. We have recorded 24 moths from six tribes. Only nine of them could be identified to the species level. Fourteen larentiines reported belong to the tribe Eupitheciini Tutt, 1896. Of these, the genera Collix Guenée, [1858] and Eois Hübner, 1818 were the most represented. Three individuals from tribe Eupitheciini could not be identified even to the genus level. All the larentiine moths listed are new records for this region. We also believe that there are possibilities of new eupitheciine species from this region.

Subfamily Geometrinae Stephens, 1829
Plates 4-6 (61-101) A large number of moths of this subfamily being green in colour, are often referred to as emerald moths. They were seen in large numbers at KMTR. However, the species diversity did not match individual abundance. According to Plotkin & Kawahara (2020), the current checklist of Geometrinae worldwide stands at 2,642 species. We recorded 41 different individuals from which 24 species from 23 genera were identified. Three moths remained unidentified while the remaining were identified to the level of genera or provisionally to the nearest species.

19892
J TT seen in the tornal region of forewing and apex of the hind wing. In attenuata, the forewing patch has an irregular projection anteriorly that is separated from the margin. Warren (1896), while describing attenuata under the older synonym Probolosceles attenuata Warren, 1896, has pointed out that some features of attenuata have been mistakenly attributed to the female of integranota by Hampson (1893).
Protuliocnemis cf. biplagiata (Moore, 1887) Plate 4 (73) Protuliocnemis biplagiata (Moore, [1887]) and P. castalaria (Oberthür, 1916), are similar in fasciae and genitalia. The number of spurs found in the hind tibia (Holloway 1996) is the only feature to distinguish the two species. Where as P. biplagata has four spurs in the hind tibia, P. castalaria has only two ( (Prout 1933, Gross-Schmett. Erde 12: 88) in Holloway, 1996). Protuliocnemis biplagiata has been reported from Sri Lanka and, northern & northeastern of India and P. castalaria only from Khasi hills. This species of Protuliocnemis was frequently observed in both the core and the buffer zone of the reserve from the month of October to March. As the data of hind tibia spurs is not available and based on its presence in Sri Lanka, we report this individual provisionally as P. cf. biplagiata.

Tribe Hemitheini Bruand, 1846
Plate 5 (77-91) We report 15 individuals belonging to 11 genera, of which six have been identified to the level of species; four are reported with provisional species identity and four are identified to the genus level. A few are detailed below.

Pelagodes Holloway, 1996
Plate 5 (83) Moths of this genus were quite abundant in higher altitudes and found at all study sites except Talayani. The genus Pelagodes Holloway, 1996, was identified and differentiated from the closely resembling Thalassodes Guenée, [1858] based on the hindwing architecture as given by Han & Xue (2011). They report that the outer margin of the hindwing is strongly angled in Thalassodes but not so in Pelagodes. Species level identification of Pelagodes was not attempted in the absence of genitalia details. The presence of Thalassodes cannot be ruled out as several individuals remained unidentified. Lack of specimens in hand was a constraint for further investigation.

Jodis Hübner, 1823
Plate 5 (87-89) Three species of Jodis were observed. One has been identified to species level. One is provisionally identified to species level while the third could not be identified beyond the level of genus.

Jodis pallescens (Hampson, 1891)
Plate 5 (88) Hampson (1893) has described this taxon from Nilgiris as Thalera pallescens and the description matches the species reported here. Prout (1934) reported it from Sri Lanka and described J. pallescens as a distinct species due to the sharp contrast seen between the green and the white areas. This was quite evident in the moths we observed and the details match the field notes.

Jodis nr. undularia (Hampson, 1891)
Plate 5 (87) Hampson (1893) described it from Nilgiris, and misidentified it as Thalera caudularia. It is, according to Prout (1934), widely distributed in India. A yellowishgreen moth, it shows the features matching the description given by Hampson. The vertex of the head is white. The whitish antemedial and postmedial lines are dentate, excurved between veins 2 and 4, giving it, at first glance, a greyish-green appearance. The underside is white with shades of greyish-white. As Prout (1934) pointed, the tail of the hindwing is sharp. We, therefore, suggest the species identity tentatively, to facilitate further exploration.
(2019). The paper also does not assign it to any tribe. We have retained the species in Tribe Nemoriini, after consulting Dr Hausmann (Hausmann, pers. comm. 01.vii.2020) who is one of the co-authors of the 2019 paper.
Eucyclodes albisparsa and E. divapala (Walker, 1861), are similar species, which fly in southern India. They are best separated by genitalic features. However, Barlow (1982) reports that the latter species found in southern India is more uniformly green and less contrasting than divapala. This matches the features in the individual observed by us. Hence, we report this moth as belonging to Eucyclodes albisparsa complex.

Derambila Walker, [1863] 1862
Plate 6 (102) Members of Derambila are small, slender, translucent white moths. Derambila saponaria (Guenée, [1858]) has been recorded from Travancore and Sri Lanka. Hampson (1895) records it as Rambara saponaria Guenée from Travancore. Rambara Moore, [1887] is currently treated as a junior synonym of Derambila (Scoble et al. 1999). Derambila fragilis (Butler, 1881), (Taiwan), described erroneously in the genus Zanclopteryx Herrich-Schäffer, [1855], is another similar species. Zanclopteryx is a genus with exclusively New World species. Prout (1921) notes that in fragilis, the antemedian lines are very few and mostly dissolved into spots. Holloway (1996), states that D. fragilis is also found in India and records that the wings are relatively slightly marked and lack the brown suffusion, seen in other species. In D. saponaria, the brown transverse markings are well expressed whereas in D. fragilis, they are present as dots. Based on the markings on the wings and the distribution given by Hampson & Moore, we report this species as Derambila fragilis.

Subfamily Ennominae Duponchel, 1845
Plates 6-13 (106-274) With no anatomical details being available, members of the largest geometrid subfamily were the most challenging to identify from external morphological only. Along with historical records and published papers, the collections from ZFMK were most useful for identification. Polymorphism was quite vivid in several genera which added to the complexity. Explanations of our conclusions for select taxa are given below.

Tribe Abraxini Warren, 1893 Abraxas Leach, [1815]
Plates 6-7 (106-123) Specimens of the genus Abraxas were found in abundant numbers in Upper Kothayar, Kuthiraivetti, Sengeltheri, and Maramalai. Materials from Kalakad, Nilgiris, and Sri Lanka available in the collections at ZFMK were compared along with descriptions and figures published by Hampson (1891Hampson ( , 1893Hampson ( , 1907, Swinhoe (1890Swinhoe ( , 1891, Walker (1862), Warren (1894Warren ( , 1898, and Prout (1925) for identification. Of the 15 individuals presented here, three are identified to the level of species (Plates 6-13 (106-109)). The rest of the unidentified individuals are in varying shades of grey and bluish-grey, with or without irregular yellow spots that ranged from many to none on the upperside. The underside of these specimens varied from being grey to grey with more or less irregular yellow spots and to one with a completely yellow underside with dark fasciae (Plate 7 (115)), the latter certainly a distinct species, the former probably variations of one species. All these species had yellow heads. The antennae were completely black or grey. The thorax showed varying degrees of greyness. Their legs were grey with yellow coxa. Large black spots on the upper side of the abdominal segment, and smaller ones on the sides and undersides were present. Based on these differences in patterns and colours on the upper and underside, the grey Abraxas moths and that with grey upper side and yellow underside have been categorised tentatively as different species. We cannot rule out the fact that some of them are probably just forms of two or more species. Hence collection is needed to investigate further and get greater clarity of this group of moths that were present during all seasons.
Another unidentified Abraxas was completely yellow on upper and underside, with grey postmedial fasciae and spots (Plate 7 (121-123)) which bore no resemblance to the two yellow Abraxas hitherto described from southern India, namely, A. luteoaria Swinhoe, 1890 andA. germana Swinhoe, 1891. Both have been described from Nilgiri Hills, but were not spotted at KMTR during our surveys. The second author who is familiar with the southern Indian Abraxas species found that the grey and the yellow series of Abraxas we have presented does not resemble any existing species. We therefore report them as unidentified species of Abraxas that need further investigation.
About 20 species of the genus Abraxas have been described from southern India and Sri Lanka at the end of the 19 th century and the beginning of the 20 th century. Most of them are endemic to the Western Ghats and do not look (Plates 6-13 (110-120)) like typical Abraxas, as known from examples seen in the Himalaya or Chinese mountainous regions. Only A. leucostola Hampson, 1893, described from Sri Lanka and later described from southern India by Hampson (1907) as Abraxas argyrosticta (which is at present treated as subspecies of leucostola), resembles the typical Abraxas. A. fasciaria (Guérin-Méneville, 1843), A. poliostrota Hampson, 1907,   , ) were quite common in KMTR. They were especially abundant in higher altitudes where they were recorded during most months of the year, except during April and May. The species has conspicuous pattern elements and their identity was determined with the help of literature sources and comparison with specimens in the ZFMK collection. Males were seen to be polymorphic; we have recorded five different variants which made identification even more difficult. A further problem is the existence of a very similar species, C. fraterna (Moore, 1888), described from Sikkim. Cleora alienaria was described from Sri Lanka and has a generally more southern distribution, but C. fraterna may perhaps occur also in the south. Externally both are not distinguished with certainty without details of their genitalia, which are very different. As there is no existing record of fraterna's presence in the south we report these as Cleora alienaria. Cleora acaciaria (Boisduval, 1833), reported in Goyal's PhD thesis (Goyal 2010; Pl. 36) from the Western Ghats is a misidentification of C. alienaria, as is evident from the comparison of genitalia figures depicted in the thesis and in Holloway, [1994] (Moths of Borneo, Part 11). The name C. acaciaria is valid today only for the species flying on Réunion Islands, extending perhaps to Mauritius.

S. Family/ Genus
Cleora nr injectaria (Walker 1860), (Plate 8 (145)), recorded druing the surveys, could not be confirmed to be true injectaria from the available information including distribution ranges, though it looks very similar to the typical, dark grey form of injectaria that is known to fly in montane habitats, from where this particular specimen was photographed. It is tentatively identified to the nearest possible species as C. nr injectaria for further investigation. True C. injectaria is known to be a lowland species, occurring mostly at seashore-areas with mangrove and along riverines (Holloway 1994;Kendrick 2015).
Externally, Cleora sp. 3. (Plate 8 (146)) is a member of the Carecomotis-group (Fletcher, 1953), but it bears resemblance to several species of this group. Of these, C. falculata (Fletcher, 1953), and C. onycha amplissima (Fletcher 1953), were reported from erstwhile Travancore. The holotype and paratype of C. falculata and the paratype of C. onycha amplissima are from this region. The study site from which Cleora sp. 3 was observed and photographed was earlier part of Travancore. A very similar species of Cleora, also of the Carecomotis-group, was recorded as C. propulsaria by Goyal from southern India in his thesis (Goyal 2010, Plate 37). On comparison of the genitalia Plates of C. falculata, C. onycha amplissima (Fletcher, 1953), and C. propulsaria (Holloway, [1994]) with that presented in his thesis, it is seen that the species reported by him is falculata and not propulsaria. Cleora sp. 3, therefore, could belong to any one of these three species. Without J TT genitalic information, this remains identified as another species of Cleora.

Ascotis Hübner, 1825
Plate 8 (147) Ascotis cf. imparata   (Plate 8 (147), female) was a species difficult to identify. Pattern and coloration are extremely similar to C. alienaria , but this was ruled out since this individual had narrower wings and was larger in wingspan (>45 mm). In size, this wingspan compared well with that reported for C. fraterna (Moore, 1888). But without any discerning characters (males of Ascotis with simple antennae would be easy to distinguish from males of Cleora with strongly pectinated antennae) and with scarce evidence of the presence of fraterna in southern India we at first, provisionally identified it as a species near alienaria. After further comparative studies the 2 nd author could identify it as a female of A. imparata, described from Nepal and "Hindostan", although not yet recorded from southern India. We believe that the presence of imparata cannot be excluded and it is unlikely, that the South Indian individuals may be members of any other closely related species.
Examination of genitalia is needed to identify this moth which was observed frequently in KMTR.

Cusiala Moore, 1887
Plates 8-9 (148-160) Thirteen individuals of Cusiala Moore are reported. There are two species of Cusiala that fly in India, C. boarmoides Moore, [1887] and C. raptaria Walker, 1860. Both are polymorphic but at KMTR the latter was observed to be more widely polymorphic. Cusiala boarmoides, the type species described from Sri Lanka, flies both in northern and southern India but C. raptaria is reported only from southern India (Hampson 1895). The only distinguishable external difference between the two species (Moore 1887; Hampson 1895) is the postmedial band of the hindwing. In boarmoides, it is angled beyond the cell instead of curved as in raptaria. In the absence of any other clearly identifiable characteristics based on external morphology, to differentiate boarmoides from the typical raptaria of southern India, we have presented one individual as C. boarmoides (Plate 8 (148)), and all others are designated C. raptaria. Hampson (1895) determined the species disterminata, rufifasciata and suiasasa as forms of C. raptaria. Our elementary investigation suggests that these determinations, too, need investigation. In addition, the sexual polymorphism, that this genus displays, too, needs investigation. These three forms were not the only ones that we found in our study sites. There were variants in the form disterminata, a black variant form, and several other with variable wing markings were observed. Twelve Cusiala rapataria that includes the described and undescribed forms (Plates 8-9 (149-160)) are reported. The existence of a wide variety of previously undescribed forms among C. raptaria require a more thorough investigation of the genitalic features to understand this genus and its species, as well as its sexual variations. Several other variants seen have been omitted from this paper, for want of detailed descriptions. This further underscores the importance of permitting collection to correctly document the diversity and furthering the scientific knowledge.

Hypomecis Hübner, 1821
Plate 9 (164-171) Four species of Hypomecis -H. transcissa , H. separata , H. tamilensis Sato, 2016 and Hypomecis pallida (Hampson, 1891), are reported in this paper. Dark and light forms of H. separata are reported from the buffer area of the reserve. Hypomecis tamilensis is a species that was described from KMTR by Sato (2016). H. pallida was quite abundant in our study sites. The females of this species are polymorphic (Plate 9 (164-167)) and were found more abundantly and frequently than males. The postmedial fasciae on their wings varied from shades of light and dark grey with brownish or blackish tinge.
H. pallida had been earlier described as a member of the genus Narapa Moore, 1887, which later was placed as a junior synonym under Hypomecis (Scoble 1999;Hausmann, pers. comm. 29.vi.2019). Preliminary studies of the type-species of Narapa, N. adamata Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875, from Sri Lanka, by the second author (2 nd author, unpublished data), which included analysis of male genitalia indicate that Narapa should be treated as a distinct genus in future again.
Several individuals that bore close resemblance to pallida, but differing in size, wing shape and markings were observed in the study sites, especially at Kuthiraivetti and Upper Kothayar. We believe that collection and further investigation is likely to reveal new data.
A curved medial line in the forewing, curved toward apex near costa and towards base near hind-margin is typical to immaculata. Females of Petelia species show wide variation, which the second author has noticed from the collections at ZFMK. This was evident in the two individuals of immaculata we have presented. The elements of black pattern near forewing apex which is typical of the females in immaculata (Hampson, 1893) was present in one and absent in another female ). This pattern is lacking in males.
Identification of P. distracta (Plate 10 (192)), was difficult as the facies of distracta bears resemblance with that of medardaria female and P. delostigma Prout, 1932. The fasciae, however, have some discernable differences. The medial line in delostigma is curved more towards the tornus unlike in distracta in which it runs straight towards the inner margin. Petelia delostigma is larger than distracta and has not been reported from India. The black spots in distracta lie very close to the medial line almost touching it, whereas in the female of medardaria the spots lie well below the medial line, closer to the outer margin of the HW. Given these differences we conclude that the individual is P. distracta.
In P. fasciata (Plate 10 (193)), the antemedial and medial line of the forewing are diffused and rufousbrown with the postmedian band also being rufousbrown, but ill-defined and waved. Diffused transverse greyish fascies between the rufous bands on both wings, a grey centred blackish discal spot in the HW and a marginal row of black spots form the markings of this species.
The markings on the Petelia sp. 5 (Plate 10 (198)) bear similarity to immaculata, but the presence of additional patterns on the hindwings require a more thorough investigation, hence it remains unidentified at the species level.

Tribe: Ennomini Duponchel, 1845 Ourapteryx Leach, 1814
Plate 11 (207-209) We report two species, the white Ourapteryx marginata (Hampson, 1891) (Plate 11 (207)), and the yellow Ourapteryx peermaadiata Thierry-Mieg, 1903 (Plate 11 (208)). The yellow O. peermaadiata was first described by Thierry-Mieg in 1903. Hampson (1907 described it again as Urapteryx ebuleata palniensis from Palani Hills, Tamil Nadu and Inoue (1993) redescribed peermadiata placing O. ebuleata palniensis as a junior synonym of peermaadiata. This is the only yellow coloured Ourpateryx that flies in southern India. The third author who is researching Ourapteryx species of India (3 rd author, unpublished data) has recorded a white morph of O. peermaadiata from southern India which has also been recorded in KMTR (Plate 11 (209)). Wingshape and all pattern elements are exactly the same in both forms, but genitalia have not been compared yet.
Comparisons of genitalia presented by Inoue (1993) with that reported by Goyal in his PhD thesis (Goyal 2010, Plate 57) show that O. peermaadiata has been incorrectly described as O devikulamensis sp. n.

Zeheba Moore, [1887]
Plate 11 (216-219) Four individuals that we report are only tentatively identified. The second author has compared these individuals ) to the material of an undescribed Zeheba from Sri Lanka in the ZFMK collection. Based on external morphology, these individuals from KMTR resemble the material at the museum.
Males and females of Zeheba are easily distinguished. While both have simple, unpectinated antennae, the hindwing margin is dentate in males, but is smooth, broader and angled in the middle (at vein M3) in females (Plate 11 (216)). Zeheba marginata that Moore (1884) describes and figures in Lepidoptera of Ceylon (Moore, 1884-7) is a female of the yet-to-be described Zeheba species from Sri Lanka. True Z. marginata was described from Java by Walker in 1886 and is likely to be extralimital to India. The female we report is very similar to the female described by Moore, erroneously as Z. marginata.

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India is further confirmed from another erroneous record of Zeheba marginata in Goyal's PhD thesis (Goyal 2011;pl. 1). The genitalia details of the male presented in the thesis are identical to the male genitalia of the undescribed Sri Lankan material in ZFMK collection, which the second author has dissected and studied (2 nd author, unpublished data). These individuals ) also bear strong resemblance to Z. aureata Moore, [1887], a Himalayan species, but the genitalia of the aureata are quite distinctly different (2 nd author, unpublished data). We report them tentatively as Z. nr aureata but they require a detailed investigation to confirm the species identity.
The individual in Plate 11 (219) is a male which is larger than the other three Individuals, half-white (or pale-yellow), including the broader wing borders, and with almost-hyaline basal part of hindwing. Without genitalic details its identity cannot be determined with certainty, but likely belongs to Z. aureatoides Holloway, [1994], described from Borneo, but with a wider distribution to Sulawesi and Peninsular Malaysia (Holloway, [1994]; coll. ZFMK), Thailand, Myanmar (coll. ZFMK, unrecorded) and perhaps, as a new record, to southern India. Examination of specimens would be necessary to investigate further to prove this.

Achrosis Guenée, [1858]
Plates 11 (221-223); Plate 12 (226-230) Several individuals of the genus Achrosis were observed, mostly in the wet evergreen or moist deciduous habitats. Of the seven individuals of this genus presented in this paper, A. intexta (Swinhoe, 1891) (Plate 11 (223)) is identified with certainty, because of its conspicuous pattern and coloration and as it is the only species of the intexta-group known from South India (type-locality: Kanara, southwestern India). Other species of the intexta-group are known from Peninsular Malaysia, Borneo and Sumatra (Holloway [1994], the Philippines (ZFMK, not yet recorded).
We report another two individuals (Plate 11 (221 & 222)) with pattern and coloration of Achrosis incitata (Walker, 1862) (type-locality: northern India, Darjeeling). Both of them differ considerably from each other and may be members of two different species. From southern India (Nilgiri Hills), Swinhoe (1891) described Zomia miscella as new to science which Hampson (1895) synonymized with "Prionia" incitata, indicating that incitata flies throughout India. Swinhoe later opines that miscella is a southern form of incitata. A further species of this group was described from Sri Lanka as Timandra? serpentinaria (Walker, 1866), which certainly may also occur in the extreme south of India. Identification of two Individuals we recorded of the incitata-group is only possible by dissection of genitalia; hence further investigation is required. Holloway (1994) described a new species close to A. incitata from Borneo and Sumatra and in the process reviewed what he calls the incitata complex. According to him almost all species of this complex are allopatric (except his new Bornean species which overlaps with the Sumatran species) and all are distinguished by differences in the male genitalia.
The two individuals we report as A. incitata (Plate 11 (221 & 222)) may be one among the three species of incitata complex that fly in southern India or Sri Lanka or they could be a new species of the incitata complex. Further investigation is required.
We also report one unattributed species, Achrosis sp. 4 (Plate 12 (226-230)). The ZFMK, too, has specimens of this species that do not match any described so far in their collection. More than one form of the male was observed but only a single female was spotted during the survey. Neither Achrosis sp. 4 nor the incitata complex resemble Achrosis euchroes (Prout, 1917), described from Nilgiris, which also does not find mention in the incitata-complex described by Holloway [1994], as it did not occur in Borneo.

Celenna festivaria (Fabricius, 1794)
Plates 11-12 (224-225) Two forms of Celenna festivaria Fabricius were found flying from March to August. They were found only in two sites of the survey (Table 3). The typical form of festivaria where the green patches are separated in the forewing, was less frequently seen than the form where the green bands were fused completely (Plate 11 (224)) and formed a large green patch on the FW. Although this species is common in India, there has been no report of racial differences so far. This form with the large fused bands that is dominant in Taiwan was named formosensis by Inoue (1964) and treated as a subspecies of festivaria. Holloway [1994] reports that the genitalia of ssp. formosensis described by Inoue resemble those of the Indian nominal subspecies C. festivaria festivaria and he therefore confirms it as a subspecies.
Celenna centraria Snellen, 1880, described from Sumatra, but also occurring in Borneo, is reported by Kirti et al. (2019) as found in the Andaman Islands.

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The fused pattern on the forewing of centraria is quite different from the species we are reporting here. Holloway [1994] states and figures that the genitalia of centraria differ strongly from those of festivaria. Until further investigation is undertaken, we report both forms as C. festivaria.

Fascellina chromataria Walker, 1860
Plate 12 (234-238) These moths were seen from the month of June onwards till November. Four males and one female recorded is presented here. Sexual dimorphism is well marked; the female was yellowish-brown with cream coloured antemedial and postmedial lines. The postmedial line had cream spots at regular intervals. The wing colour in males ranged from shades of greenishbrown, brown to black (Plate 12 (235-238)). The submarginal fascia was white in three forms, while in the fourth, the brown form, there was merely a white speck near the excavated tornal margin (Plate 12 (237)). Each of the differently coloured forms were seen in different months and did not fly together.
The hindwing of the underside of the males were chrome-yellow, as their name suggests. The basal parts of the forewing were yellow, red-brown around the postmedial line; the postmedial regions being a mix of brownish-red. A greyish angled line and a patch near the apex of FW was also observed. Fascellina chromataria was described from Sri Lanka, and it has been reported from the Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary in Kerala (Sondhi et al. 2018). Forests of KMTR and Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary are part of Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve. The female seen in KMTR (Plate 12 (234)) is similar to the female collected and identified from Shendurney and therefore is identified as Fascellina chromataria. As we also observed more than one form of chromataria males, we report this group of four males and one female as Fascellina chromataria complex. Examination of specimens are needed to determine whether the individuals of this complex are morphs, subspecies or different species.

Hypochrosis hyadaria (Guenée, [1858]) -H. chlorozonaria (Walker, 1861)
Plate 12 (239-241) Hypochrosis hyadaria is treated at present as a single species with a large number of described subspecies (Holloway [1994]; Scoble et al. 1999), distributed allopatrically from India, over large areas of southeastern Asia and the Malayan archipelago. Hypochrosis chlorozonaria Walker, 1861, described from Sri Lanka, is treated as a related, but distinct species. It was later described again as Numaria galbulata (Felder & Rogenhofer, 1875) and Marcala sulphurescens (Moore, [1887]), from Sri Lanka. Hypochrosis galbulata and H. sulphurescens are just different forms of the same variable species, chlorozonaria. Unlike the description of hyadaria given by Hampson (1895), the facies described by Moore for these two forms of chlorozonaria match well with the facies of the individuals (Plate 12 (239-241)) we have recorded. Holloway (1994) states, "India through S.E. Asia", as the geographical range for hydaria. Evidence of hyadaria flying in southern India comes from the surveys at Shendurney Wildlife Sanctuary by Yash Sondhi (Sondhi et al. 2018). It is possbile that both the species-hyadaria and chlorozonaria-could be found flying together in this region. Investigations through examination of the genitalia of collected specimens alone can provide their correct identity. Therefore, we report these three individuals as forms of Hypochrosis hyadaria or chlorozonaria.

Tribe Macariini Guenée, 1858
Plate 12-13 (250-269) The identities of various moths in this tribe were investigated by referring to Krüger's (2001) extensive work on African species and a range of global macariine species, and the review of this tribe by Scoble & Krüger (2002). The details given in the works of Hampson (1891Hampson ( , 1895, Moore (1884-7), and Walker (1862) were also consulted. Some macariine genera can be identified based on wing colour, shape, and pattern (Scoble & Krüger 2002). However, genitalia structure is the most reliable feature for identification of moths from this tribe.
The macariine taxonomy is still in flux as several species from the Oriental region, including some from India, have not yet been described, as is evident from this paper. Nineteen macariine individuals have been observed and are classified here in three genera, namely, Acanthovalva Krüger, 2001, Chiasmia Hübner, [1823] 1816, and Isturgia Hübner, [1823 1816.

Acanthovalva Krüger, 2001
Plate 12 (250) The general features of this moth match the description given for Acanthovalva by Krüger (2001). Further investigation about the species requires collection and examination of genitalia. Although he could not examine any specimens, Krüger suggests that Tephrina fumosa (Hampson, 1895) from Nilgiris may be closely related to Acanthovalva bilineata (Warren, 1895)

Isturgia disputaria (Guenée, [1858])
The various species of Isturgia have been broadly placed under five groups by Krüger (2001). One of them is the Isturgia disputaria group. We report two taxa that belong to it. Both are tentatively identified, as details of genitalia are not available.
We have identified a female from Talayanai (Plate 13 (269)) as Isturgia disputaria Guenée. It is identified by the strong, black fasciae of the forewings. The description of the fasciae matches that given by Hampson (1895). Hampson (1895) also states that the southern Western Ghats forms appear generally paler and ochreous. Krüger (2001) mentions that the HW median line in disputaria may be faint or absent, while Hampson records the HW "with sinuous median line". These lines are partly visible in our Plate, but minor variations in fascia could also be a geographical phenomenon, in our opinion.
The second taxon (Plate 13 (267-268)) we report as Isturgia-a male and a female observed at Maramalai (a higher elevation site in the buffer zone of the Reserve)also belongs to the I. disputaria group. It bears some resemblance to the former taxon, but has much weaker transverse fasciae. It may be just a form or variation of the latter, but may also be related to or conspecific with I. pulinda , from Sri Lanka. A year later, Walker (1861) described another Isturgia, I. deerraria, from South Africa, which was subsequently reported by several authors ((Agenjo 1974: 4;Herbulot 1978: 161;Fletcher 1978a: 77;Wiltshire 1952: 172;1980: 197;1990: 135;Hermosa 1985: 28;Hausmann 1991: 138) in Krüger (2001) as a subspecies of I. pulinda. Krüger (2001), after examining the genitalia of the typespecimens, concluded that the African species I. deeraria was not conspecific with I. pulinda. Based on the fasciae we believe that this Isturgia from Maramalai may be related to I. pulinda or may even be a new species. The real identity can only be decided after the study of the genitalia of collected Individuals.
Isturgia catalaunaria Guenée, [1858] was also listed as a macariine species from India (Kirti et al. 2019). Krüger (2001) has recorded this to be a misidentification, as this is a species from southern Spain and southern Africa, so extralimital to India.

CONCLUSION
Investigating 390 moths through photographs and without specimens in hand to refer to, was a daunting task. In the absence of specimens, we have attempted to assign as precise species identities as deemed possible, but many uncertainties in species identities can only be clarified through collection and examination of specimens. We have also attempted to compile the many historical records that lay scattered among different resources, and contemporary published papers on Geometridae, for easy access to future researchers. Many geometrids are flower feeders, hence important pollinators of plants in forests. Their presence is likely to help forests flourish. As most geometrids are polyphagous, their varied larval host plants are also crucial, and require protection of their habitats in the Western Ghats, an area of high endemism. Given the diversity observed by the first author in these forests, we hope that these preliminary findings will stimulate further research on the geometrid moths of KMTR.