**Monsoon Beauty** **Update - 16th July 2021**
Monsoon Beauty
Update - 16th July 2021
Dear Friends,
Thank you for being part of the Monsoon Beauty event. It has begun with a torrential flow of diversity. At the time of posting this journal we have crossed the 1000 observation mark in less than 2 days. A big thank you to the participants and the identifiers
A special mention for our first post by Varsha (iNaturalist user name @varsh1) who stayed up till the wee hours of the morning and posted the first observation of Mogra or the Arabian Jasmine flower link here surely an auspicious start enriching us with its enchanting fragrance. Thank you @varsh1
Observation of the Day
Every day we would be choosing one observation to be highlighted. The observation of the day is a beautiful Thyas juno moth by Aibor Sanglyne (iNaturalist user name @aibor ) from Shillong, Megahalya (North East India)
It lit up our day and hope it lights up yours too , see the observation here
National Moth Week
Rather international Moth Week is being celebrated from 17th to 25th July 2021
To know more on how to watch moths, or register an event you may visit
Diversity of India - Moths Event calendar Link here or;
or this International Website link,
To share news of this event kindly see (and share) this poster
Moths of Uttarakhand High Resolution Poster (free)
Titli Trust has also offered a free high resolution poster on Moths of Uttarakhand - this can be downloaded here
Advice on moth names received from @hkmoths
Most moths do not have a common name and in case they do exist they are either common across a few species or very specific. So one has to try and make sense of their scientific names. This is the advice we received from Moth Expert R.C Kendrick (@hkmoths)
One should look for the original description of the genus (or species for species epithets) - where a properly described name has the etymology derivation explained. Unfortunately many genera and species epithet derivations were not explained by the author and leave massive room for conjecture. Links to the original descriptions names for moths may be found on the two databases (especially for genera) maintained by The Natural History Museum, London....... http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/lepindex/ & http://www.nhm.ac.uk/our-science/data/butmoth/ Also of use in this respect is Funet - which has links to many original descriptions...... e.g. for Thyas it gives https://www.nic.funet.fi/pub/sci/bio/life/insecta/lepidoptera/ditrysia/noctuoidea/erebidae/erebinae/thyas/
Ref "R.C. Kendrick, pers. com., 2021"
Books and References for Moths
As of now India does not have a comprehensive easy to use field guide or pictorial guide to moths.
A very good book for biology & ecology that has been recommended Moths: Their biology, diversity and evolution by David C. Lees (Author), Alberto Zilli (Author) (Indian Rupees 1200) and available on Amazon India link
Reference was provided by Sanjay Sondhi of Titli Trust (@sanjaysondhi)
Social Media
We have started an Instagram and a Twitter channel to highlight the happenings of this event and to show case observations of they day.
We will be posting once a day,
The twitter handle is here
While instagram is visible here
Do tag us, share , follow - what ever your preference.
Highlighting interesting observation or people or places
On iNaturalist if you feel any particular observation (or person) needs to be covered do tag us in the comments of that observation (please use @ram_k @mountainjen @vijay_dixit) we will follow up.
Please write to us on indiasnature.01@gmail.com for any query.
Google forms to help us know you
We have created a google form to help us know you and create niche support, when feasible,
May we request those of you who have not filled in the form to kindly do so
this is the link
Monsoon Beauty Participant Google Form Link
iNaturalist Journal Update
We may make short updates once a day via the iNaturalist journal page. This would essentially contain the observation of the day and some highlights.
We would also share tips and advice on observation and identification.
New Users
Some of you have filled in the google form but have not yet joined iNaturalist,.
If you need help kindly mail us back on indiasnature.01@gmail.com
Meanwhile below is a short step by step guide to joining the iNaturalist, and the Monsoon Beauty project
Joining iNaturalist
To create an account (and join the project)
A) On the WEB
1) To create an account visit https://www.inaturalist.org/
2) On the Top Right are two options Log in / SIGN UP Click on the sign up and enter a user name - this is what will show up in your account / public face - so choose something you like
3) Enter any password (and please do keep note of this
Your account will be ready as soon as you click submit.
B) On a smart phone Download the inaturalist app from
the google playstore Link
or the apple store Link
After the app is installed follow the same steps above 1) enter a user name 2) password (if asked for) 3) linked email id (of if you use google sign in from google if you prefer)
*** Once your app is installed and an account created you are ready to go.
All your observations (irrespective of if you join a project or not- will always be available on iNaturalist)
Joining the Project
On the web (after you are logged in with your account) follow this URL / weblink
Click Join from the top right (if it says members it means you have already joined the project
On the APP (after you have logged in)
On the top left will be three horizontal lines - Click on that
There will be a drop down menu with Projects click on that
In the search box type in Monsoon Beauty
It should show you an icon with a Langur (monkey face) click on that
Press Join from the top left
Thank you
Team India's Nature Monsoon Beauty
