One Giant Leap For Q Yeshey, One Small Step For Bhutan

On the afternoon of August 21, 2026 at 2:08 PM, I photographed a strikingly pretty moth. Later, upon arrival at home, while looking up for the name of the moth, it turns out that I had unwittingly photographed a moth that is said to be endemic to Taiwan. I was intrigued! – I mean, what is a moth that is supposedly endemic to Taiwan doing in Bhutan? I delved deeper and I realized that I had a potential record in my hands. Material available in the internet confirmed that the moth was never before officially recorded in Bhutan.

Nothomiza flavicosta moth - recorded for the first time in Bhutan

I called up Karma Wangdi at the Ugyen Wangchuck Institute for Conservation and Environment (UWIEC) - another Khengpa – one of the four authors of the most authoritative book on moths of Bhutan titled “Moths of Bhutan” – published in The Netherlands in August of 2022. I requested him to look up his records and let me know if the moth has ever been recorded before in Bhutan.

On the morning of August 23, 2026 (today) at 8.11AM, Karma Wangdi confirmed over the phone that my moth photo of Nothomiza flavicosta was indeed the first evidence of the moth’s existence in Bhutan. He said that he consulted his own records, including all of the published records in his possession --- he said that none show that the moth was ever recorded in Bhutan, before my discovery.

Nothomiza flavicosta is a species of moth belonging to the family Geometridae, commonly known as geometer moths. This species is said to be endemic to Taiwan. It was described by the English entomologist William Warren, in 1894.

For the record, when I went through my stockpile of moth photographs, I realized that this was the second time I had photographed the moth – I had actually photographed the moth - almost a year earlier, as follows:

Moth Name : Nothomiza flavicosta

Photographed at : Pangrizampa, Dechenchhoeling, Thimphu

Date : September 5, 2025

Time : 7:40 AM

Karma Wangdi tells me that Bhutan’s current record of moths stand at around 2,000 species. However, he believes that Bhutan could be home to upto 5,000 species of these most beautiful of winged insects - collectively known as Lepidoptera.