NEWSLETTER of the NNHS 1 ISSN: 2395-065X For private circulation only ISSUE 8.1 June 2019 NEWSLETTER of the NNHS2 COPYLEFT Nilgiri Natural History Society, 144-A, Bee Museum, Club Road. Opp. Hill Bunk, Ooty -643 001, Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu,India, email: contact@nnhs.in, Phone No: +919442619577 This work is licensed under a Creative Commons AttributionBy 3.0 Unported License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) Newsletter of the Nilgiri Natural History Society is available at www.nnhs.in All photos and maps are by Keystone Foundation unless otherwise mentioned. EDITORIAL BOARD Anita Varghese1, Sumin George Thomas1, Sharada Ramdas2 1. Keystone Foundation, Kotagiri, Nilgiris 643217, Tamil Nadu, India. 2. Executive Committee Member, NNHS E D I T O R I A L Best wishes Anita Varghese Chief Editor For membership and other details contact : Indian Moon Moth / Indian Luna Moth (Actias selene) Coonoor, Nilgiris These large moths with their beautiful trailing tails make for some of the prettiest moths you can hope to see. First described in 1807, this species is found across Asia, and commonly reared by many amateur entomologists from commercially available eggs or cocoons. They also produce silk and are crepuscular or nocturnal favouring dim light or night conditions to fly. They are widespread, with many subspecies in different countries across Asia. The males are supposed to be able to detect female pheromones from long distances (anywhere between 4-10 km). They can produce up to three generations of young ones in a year. Considered widespread before, there have been reports of its decreasing numbers in recent times. Photo Credit : Samantha Iyanna, Coonoor Text : R Sharada, Kotagiri Dear Readers We are trying our best to keep the newsletter on time and schedule and we are pleased to bring this edition which is a mixed bag of natural history tales from the Nilgiris. We have articles about all creatures great and small in this edition from moths, butterflies, fish, gaur to fungi ... we have quite a diversity. We are happy to have local naturalists from the Nilgiris put out their best photos as we see in the feature on fungi called morels and about moth diversity. The stunning winged dwellers of the night, the moths rest in the day making them relatively easier to photograph than the butterfly who wants to flit about all the time! Other sentinels of the day are the Gaur and today they have become so common place that local people go about their lives as if it is normal to have a 1 tonne weighing animal from the wild as your neighbour. The team from Keystone who monitor them on a daily basis share their experiences. Morels are a distinct group of Fungi with a pointed shape and honeycomb surface and we have an article giving more details of this life form. This is also a new record for the Nilgiris. From the natural world we focus on natural ways of farming to highlight efforts by local farmers in the Kukalthorai valley who are determined to grow food organically. A local student writes about his research study on wild edible plants and how he rediscovered his own community's interaction with the forest through his research. We want to share the story of a woman farmer who grows millets and is a protector of the seed diversity of her community. For several of us who know her personally – she is an inspiration. From the terrestrial we take you to the fresh water dwelling orange-finned mahseer which has long held a fascination for anglers and researchers alike. Here we are happy to bring you some updates on its status The NNHS has once again been buzzing with activities that range from making safe detergents to taking people out on walks to the sholas. We hope you enjoy reading this diverse newsletter and we look forward to your feedback. NEWSLETTER of the NNHS 5 Abstract: Morchella Galilaea Masaphy & Clowez 2012 true morals have been recorded in south India In Nilgiri Hills, Morchella research in South India has not taken place. Key words: Nilgiri Hills, Fungus, Morchella, Morals Introduction: Fungus is any member of groups of eukaryotic organism, that includes microorganism such as yeast & molds, worldwide fungus recorded 3.8 million species. In India 27,000 species are recorded from till date (Sarbhoy et al 1996). Tamilnadu is one of plant rich states in the country that shows enormous diversity in various plant groups, and fungi, linches and algae. A total of 1077 species in about 370 genera have been recorded from tamilnadu till 2002 (Natarajan 2007). Nilgiri hills had a rich in fungal diversity. Morchella true morel is a genus of edible wild fungi. It's also of economic importance and medicinal uses. Morchella species have been used traditional Chinese medicine from 2000 years as well as in Malaysia and Japan for the treatment of many diseases (Hobbs, 1995). It is a laxative and can be used as emollient (Sher et al 2011). Worldwide morels are estimated 1069 species of mushrooms have been reported as being used for food purposes. (Boa 2004). Morchella species commonly called as gucchi in India. Most about this morchella genus of morels has been reported in the north provinces in India, temperate Zones in Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Jammu & Kashmir, Rajastan and Uttaranchal, Maharashtra, Morchella required undisturbed natural condition but very rarely linked with agricultural ecosystem (Lakhanpal & Shad 1986). Six species of morels have been identified in India M.esculenta, M.conica (pers) Fr. (syn. M.elata Fr.), M.deliciosa (Fr.)Jct., M.angusticeps peck, M.classipes (vent.) pers and M.semilibera (Dc.)Fr. (Chandra singh Negi 2006). Morchella galilaea is one of species in morchella genus, this species was described as new to science in 2012. (Masaphy & Clowez 2012). The Vegetation of the Nilgiri hills is Thorny scrubs and shola grass land. The morchella galilaea specimen was found under cycas circinalis L. in Coonoor Nilgiri Hills. Cycas Circinalis L. is endemic to Western Ghats, IUCN red list data base of threated species as data deficient. It was transformed early in the fall of autumn. Although morel fruiting season occurs generally during the spring season (Sturgis 1905) and (Masaphy et al 2009). Morchella galilaea give the philogenetic cod Mes16) was observed in autumn in the mist units of the Horticulture Research and Application Area of kurova University, Adana Turkey (Taskin et al 2012). Distribution: China, Java, Hawaii, Isreal, New Zealand, Turkey and three countries of Africa, North province & South province in India. Systematic Account: Order : Pezizales Family : Morchellaceae Genus : Morchella Species : Morchella Galilaea (Masaphy & Clowez 2012) Species Description: Size: 6.5 Cm tall. Stem color is white and Cap color brownish with yellow color. M. Galilaea looking honey comb appearance (Fig.1). Galilaea species are thin, elastic simple, or forked anastomosing to form elongated hymenial pits, white, bluntly rounded when young. (H. Taskin et al 2015). NEW RECORD OF MOREL IN NILGIRI HILLS, TAMILNADU INDIA (Fig.1) All Morchella galilaea are looking honey comb appearance. ACKNOWLEDGMENT The author are thankful to Defense Service Staff College Wellington Library Information Officer. Dr.R.V Subramaniam, Assistant Librarian Sundaramurthi sir, Ragu Sir, Mrs. Shakila, Hakkim, Kannan and Janarthanan, Sarath Kumar and also thank for DSSC Instituiton for their kind help during the studies. References Boa E. 2004. Wild edible fungi; a global overview of their use and importance to people. Non-wood forest products, No. 17, FAO, Forest Department, Rome, Italy. Chandra Singh Negi 2006 – Morels (Morchella spp) is kumaun Himalaya. Natural product Radiance Vol. 5(4) pp.306-310. Hill, KD., C.J. Chen & P.K Loc (2003). In: Donaldson, J (ed) Cycads: Status survey and conservation action plan. IUCN/SSC Cycad specialist group. IUCN the world conservation union, cambridege, UK. Regional Overview: Asia Chapter 5: pp 25-30. Hobbs. C 1995. Medicinal Mushrooms. Bot Press, CA, USA. Lakhanpal, TN and O.S Shad, 1986 studies on wild edible mushrooms of Himachal Pradesh (North Western Himalaya II. Ecological relationship of morchella species. Ind.J.Mush., 12: 15-20. Masaphy S, Zabari L, Goldsberg D. 2009. New long season ecotype of Morchella rufoburunea from northern Israel, Mycologia Aplicada Internation 21: 45-55. Masaphy & Clowez in Clowez 2012 Morchella galilaea. Bull Soc Mycal France 126(3-4): 238. Natarajan K. 2007 List of fungi reported from Tamilnadu. A database available at http://www.tnenvis.nic.in. Sarbhoy, A.K., Agarwal D.K and Varshney, J.L, fungi of India 1982-1992, CBS publication and Distributors, New Delhi, 1996, pp:350. Sher, H., Elyemeni, M., Hussain, K. and Sher, H.2011. Ethnobotanical and economic observations of some plant resources from the northern parts of Pakistan. Ethnobot. Res., Appl. 9:27-41. Sturgis wc. 1905 Remarkable occurrence of Morchella esculenta (L) Pers. Journal of Mycology 11:269. Taskin H. Buyukalaca S. 2012 Morel (morchella) mushroom, Bahce 41: 25-36. Taskin H. Hasan Huseyin Dogan & Buyukalaca S. 2015. Morchella galilaea, an autumn species from Turkey. Mycotoxon Vol-130 pp:215-221. N Moinudheen Defence Services Staff College, Wellington, The Nilgiris, Tamilnadu,643231 N Moinudheen