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. 2025 Apr 25:13:e152977.
doi: 10.3897/BDJ.13.e152977. eCollection 2025.

Alpha diversity with increasing altitude and Rapoport's rule adherence: Elevational trends in Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) of Mizoram, India

Malsawmtluanga Hnialum  1 , Chitra Narayanasami  1 , Santosh Ganapati Patil  1 , Soundararajan Raga Palanisamy  1 , Kumaraperumal Ramalingam  1 , Balasubramani Venkatasamy  1 , Amrit Sekhar Mallick  1 , Dilipsundar Natarajan  1 , Arulkumar Gopal  1 , Lalmuanzuala B  1
Affiliations

Alpha diversity with increasing altitude and Rapoport's rule adherence: Elevational trends in Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) of Mizoram, India

Malsawmtluanga Hnialum et al. Biodivers Data J. .

Abstract

An assessment of the alpha diversity across the altitudinal range sizes for the moths of Noctuoidea (Lepidoptera) collected from 25 locations in Mizoram, a biodiversity hotspot in India, was undertaken. A total of 164 moth specimens were examined. based on morphological and genitalia characteristics for their identity. Identified specimens belonged to 42 species and 34 genera of three families Erebidae, Noctuidae and Nolidae. The results showed that the alpha diversity of Noctuoidea moths was the highest at the lower middle altitude range (400-800 m), while the least was at the lower elevation range (0-400 m). In contrast, the species' ranges increased with rising altitude. Steven's (R = 0.903, p < 0.001), Pagel's (R² = 0.873, p < 0.06), Rohde's (R² = 0.961, p < 0.001) and cross-species (R² = 0.013, p < 0.6) methods were used to test Rapoport's rule. They yielded three positive results with the cross-species method being negative due to outliers in the species distribution. Rapoport's rule applicability for moths in the Indo-Myanmar biodiversity hotspot was evaluated for the first time. These findings are vital in explaining the elevational diversity patterns of noctuoid moths in northeast India and Indo-Myanmar, leading to a better understanding of the region's biogeography.

Keywords: Indo-Myanmar; Noctuoidea; Rapoport’s rule; alpha diversity; biogeography; elevational gradient.

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Conflict of interest statement

No conflict of interest to declare Disclaimer: This article is (co-)authored by any of the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editors or their deputies in this journal.

Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
Map of Mizoram with surveyed locations marked.
Figure 2.
Figure 2.
Sample completeness curve of the superfamily Noctuoidea in different elevation ranges of Mizoram.
Figure 3.
Figure 3.
Sample-size-based rarefaction (solid line) and extrapolation (dotted line) sampling curves with 95% confidence intervals (shaded areas) of four different elevations for Species richness, Shannon diversity and Simpson's diversity, right panel.
Figure 4.
Figure 4.
Rapoport’s rule test: a Stevens’ method; b Rohde’s method; c Pagel’s method; d cross-species method.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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