Moths vital for Himalayan ecosystem- report.

Why in news?

• A recent study has found that moths are vital to pollination in the Himalayan ecosystem of northeast India.
• The study establishes 91 species of moths as potential pollinators of 21 plant families in Sikkim and Arunachal Pradesh in the northeastern Himalayas.
• Study can help in understanding the role of these nocturnal (active at night) insect pollinators.
• Till now a majority of the pollination-related studies are based on diurnal pollinators (bees and butterflies).
• Pollination is the act of transferring pollen grains from the male anther of a flower to the female stigma.

 About Moth

• Moths are a paraphyletic group of insects that includes all members of the order Lepidoptera that are not butterflies.
• While the butterflies form a monophyletic group, the moths, comprising the rest of the Lepidoptera, do not.
• There are about 12,000 moth species in India.