Two new non-luminous species of fireflies described from the Nilgiris

Two new species of non-luminous fireflies have been described from the Nilgiris, with one of them being named after the indigenous Kurumba tribe.

The two species Lamellipalpodes kurumba and Lamellipalpodes debprasama  were found in the Nilgiris district in Tamil Nadu. With the latest findings, the total number of Lamellipalpodes species now stands at 14, with five being found within the borders of the country.

The findings, titled ‘Two new species of fireflies of the genus Lamellipalpodes from the Nilgiris, Tamil Nadu’, were published in the International Journal of Tropical Insect Science, Springer-Nature Group, by authors Arnob Chakrovorty, N. Moinudheen, Banani Bhattacarjee, A. Abinesh, A. Samson, and N. Sadiq Ali.

“Lamellipalpodes is a genus of non-luminous fireflies distributed in India, Myanmar, Nepal, and Thailand. Prior to this study, only two species were known from India,” said Mr. Arnob Chakrovorty, one of the lead authors of the paper, who discovered one more species in 2025 in West Bengal.

Nomenclature

“This paper deals with the description of two new species of Lamellipalpodes from the Nilgiris, Western Ghats, India, with one of them being named in honour of the Kurumba tribes of the region who all have been protecting the flora and fauna of the Nilgiris for decades,” said Mr. Chokrovorty.

N. Moinudheen, another author of the paper, said that the decision to name the species after the Kurumba people is to recognise one of the indigenous groups of the Nilgiris who have faced persecution and oppression since the arrival of the British to the Nilgiris hills. “The Kurumbas’ traditions are also at risk of extinction. It is our small effort at ensuring that the community is acknowledged for their close links to the environment,” he said.

Banani Bhattacharjee, another author, said that the naming of the other species Lamellipalpodes debprasama was a tribute to her parents Debdas and Sulekha Bhattacharjee as well as to the parents of Mr. Arnab, Pranab and Mandira Chakraborty. “Sadly, I lost my father during my B.Sc programme, but I have both him and my mother through the naming of this specimen,” she said.

Mr. Moinudheen said that insects such as fireflies usually inhabit areas close to wetlands and grasslands, which are being lost across the Western ghats. He said that excessive pesticide use is another major threat to the insects, studies of which are rare. “It is important that we undertake more studies looking into the ecology of non-luminous fireflies, which are still extremely rare,” he added.

The research was conducted with the collaborative efforts of the iForNature Nature Club Laboratory, Wildlife and Nature Conservation Trust (WNCT), Kalyani University, Bombay Natural History Society (BNHS), and Pondicherry University.