Spiders, butterflies vital for ecology

Jotirmay Thapliyal 

Tribune News Service              

Dehradun, October 6

While wildlife scientists have been undertaking studies on species such as tiger and elephant, a scientist at the Wildlife Institute of India is busy doing indepth research of largely ignored species such as spiders, butterflies and moths.

Dr VP Uniyal is a senior scientist with the Wildife Institute of India, Dehradun, a premier wildife conservation institute engaged in conservation. Uniyal believes that though not seen as charismatic like tiger, the importance of spiders, butterflies and other moths in the ecology is equally important. Talking to The Tribune, Uniyal asserted that moths played a major role in the biodiversity conservation. 

He reminded that it was a proven fact that moth species such as tiger beetles stood as the best indicators for monitoring biodiversity and associated micro-level changes in the environment in the Shivaliks. 

A PhD in Entomology from Kurukshetra University, Haryana, in 1989, Dr VP Uniyal did his MSc in Zoology from Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University, Srinagar, in 1983. He belongs to Maikoti village in Rudraprayag district and did his entire schooling from Chamoli. 

Referring to spiders that have been a pet subject of his study, Dr Uniyal said notwithstanding the fact that spiders, being in abundance, were generalist predators in terrestrial habitats and also an important food source for other animals, these had become a valuable component of ecosystem function. He said the diversity of moths had a potential role as a conservation tool in the protected areas. 

“But like many other ‘little things that run the world’, spiders remain peripheral to mainstream conservation research and action. Nevertheless, there exists a growing body of work on spiders 

as they relate to conservation issues, both as conservation tools and as clear targets for conservation action,” Dr Uniyal pointed out. 

Uniyal asserted that moths in particular had long been regarded as the “poor cousins” of butterflies and lagged well behind butterflies in popularity and in the attention given to their conservation status and needs. He admitted that public awareness on moths was little and even on wildlife research, a lot still needed to be done.