Inventory of moths: Entomologist identifies nearly 2,000 moth species in the Andes
Monday, March 14, 2016 - 11:30
in Biology & Nature
The rain forests in the mountains of the tropical Andes are amongst the most biodiverse regions on the planet. But the multitude of ants, beetles, moths and butterflies which can be found here are largely unknown. An international team of researchers recently drew up a thorough inventory of the family of the species of looper moths (Geometridae). They came up with a surprising result: The diversity of these moths is much greater than was previously assumed. The scientists working with Dr Gunnar Brehm of the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (Germany) give an account of it in the online open access science journal PLOS ONE.