The faculty of the Department of Advanced Zoology and Biotechnology of Women’s Christian College has published a book on moths to mark its centenary year.

The Moths of Women’s Christian College – A Field Guide features 104 species of moths belonging to 13 different families found on the campus. Work on documenting them began in 2014 and culminated in a book, said Benitha Golda, an assistant professor in the department.

“The purpose of the book is to introduce the readers to the fascinating world of urban moths,” said Vanitha Williams, department head. “Moths are unique and are neglected species as there is a misconception that they are harmful. They are normally looked at as pests and we don’t normally view them as pollinators,” Ms. Benitha said.

The college has been recording the moth population for eight years. The book explains about each category of moths and method of identification, with photos taken by the faculty. “Students have a subject called Field Zoology when they go into the field and study the fauna. Moth is a part of it. We thought it would help as moths have not been studied well. Only now, the effort is being made. The taxonomic identification of moth is not easy as some moth varieties are active only at night. We had to work on it,” she added.

The faculty took the help of B. Vasantaraj David, entomologist and former chairman of scientific academic board, International Institute of Biotechnology and Toxicology.

The book has been authored by six faculty, two of whom have since retired. It was launched on Wednesday on the campus.

R.W. Alexander Jesudasan, pro Vice-Chancellor of Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, launched the book and Mr. David received the first copy.

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