Guwahati, Nov 30: A new scientific review has placed Meghalaya firmly on the global biodiversity map, confirming that the state hosts one of the richest cicada assemblages in India—and perhaps the world. The study, published in the latest issue of The NEHU Journal, documents the historical trajectory, species discoveries, and current research gaps in cicada biodiversity across Meghalaya, calling for urgent conservation attention.

The study done by researchers Graham Bakynson Raneee, Robeson Thangkhiew under the supervision of Professor Sudhanya Ray Hajong traces more than century of cicada documentation in the region, beginning with colonial-era naturalists and culminating in a recent surge of species discoveries.

The review highlights that extensive surveys in the last two decades have uncovered several new species and new records for India from Meghalaya, underscoring the state’s position as a cicada hotspot. The paper notes that species richness is especially high in the wet evergreen and sub-tropical forests spanning Khasi, Jaintia, and Garo Hills.

Cicadas—famous for their rhythmic calls—play crucial ecological roles, including soil aeration and nutrient cycling. The study emphasises that Meghalaya’s species exhibit remarkable acoustic diversity, making the state a natural laboratory for bioacoustic and evolutionary research.

However, the researchers warn that rapid landscape fragmentation, deforestation, and infrastructure expansion are threatening several cicada habitats. Many species are highly habitat-specific, meaning even small disturbances can lead to rapid population declines.

The study cites the lack of long-term monitoring, limited taxonomic expertise, and the near-absence of ecological data as major gaps. Meghalaya’s cicadas, the authors argue, remain “poorly understood despite their abundance and ecological significance.”

The authors recommend dedicated field surveys in underexplored districts, bioacoustic documentation especially during peak monsoon calling seasons, Community-led monitoring, leveraging the state’s growing interest in biodiversity, and habitat protection in high-richness zones such as Law Lyngdoh Mawlong, Mawsynram, and Nokrek.

The paper stresses that integrating cicada research into Meghalaya’s broader conservation planning could provide new insights into climate change impacts, forest health, and species interactions.

Cicadas are globally prized for understanding speciation, acoustics, and evolutionary biology. The review argues that Meghalaya—owing to its altitudinal gradients and climatic extremes—could emerge as a model region for studying how insects evolve in response to rainfall, temperature, and forest structure.

The authors say Meghalaya’s cicadas represent an “extraordinary but imperilled” fauna—one that demands both scientific attention and conservation urgency.

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