- Two researchers from Tamil Nadu have spotted a rare moth species, Mimeusemia cylonica for the first time in India in the buffer zone of the Kalakkad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) after it was last sighted 127 years ago — at Trincomalee in Sri Lanka in 1893.
- Mimeusemia ceylonica is a moth of the subfamily Agaristinae and family Noctuidae first described by George Hampson in 1893.
- It is found in Sri Lanka and is known to produce a neurotoxin similar to Methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA).
- It is a potent drug with stimulant properties primarily used for recreational purposes.
- About the Kalakkad–Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR)
- Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve (KMTR) is located in the South Western Ghats montane rain forests Tamil Nadu.
- It is the second-largest protected area in Tamil Nadu.
- It was created in 1988 by combining Kalakad Wildlife Sanctuary and Mundanthurai Wildlife Sanctuary, both established in 1962.
- KMTR forms part of the inter-state (Kerala and Tamil Nadu) Agasthyamalai Biosphere Reserve.
- This part of Agastya Mala hills in the core of KMTR is considered one of the five centres of biodiversity and endemism in India by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN).
- The Western Ghats, Agasthyamalai Sub-Cluster, including all of Kalakkad Mundanthurai Tiger Reserve, is under consideration by the UNESCO World Heritage Committee for selection as a World Heritage Site.
SOURCE: THE HINDU, THE ECONOMIC TIMES, PIB