Recent Lab News
Sept 2025
POSTDOC POSITION
We have funding for a postdoctoral position in our lab. More details HERE.
INTERACTION AT SIKKIM GOVERNMENT SCIENCE COLLLEGE
Some lab members visited Sikkim after the Behaviour conference in Kolkata. They had an interactive session interactive session with students and Sikkim Government Science College, Chakung (Bhanu's alma mater). Tarun, Anaswara, Aardhra, Sharafu and Bhanu gave talks.
Aug 2025
OUR LAB AT BEHAVIOUR 2025
Several of us attended the Behaviour 2025 Conference at Kolkata. Kushankur, Aarini, Bhanu, Akhil and Anaswara gave talks. Tarun, Sharafu and Aardhra had posters. Tarun's poster won an award for Best poster!
MALAVIKA JOINS THE LAB
Malavika M is the newest PhD student in our lab. We welcome her and wish her the best!
From left: Bhanu, Tarun, Amanda (ex Masters), Dhiraj (ex Masters), Aaarini, Anaswara, Balamurali (ex Postdoc), Aaardhra (ex Masters), Ullasa, Sharafu and Kushankur. At Behaviour 2025 conference, Kolkata, Aug.
Jun 2025
EMPSEB30 BEST TALK AWARD FOR TARUN
Tarunkishwor Yumnam and Akhil Sadiq have returned after presenting talks at the 30th edition of The European Meeting for PhD students in Evolutionary Biology (EMPSEB), in Milovy, Czech Republic. Congratulations to Tarunkishwor for winning the AllGenetics-EMPSEB Award for Best Talk!!! This also carries a 500 Euros monetary award.
ULLASA AS ASSOCIATE EDITOR OF EVOLUTIONARY JOURNAL OF THE LINNEAN SOCIETY
Ullasa has been invited to the Editorial Board of Evolutionary Journal of the Linnean Society as an Associate Editor.
May 2025
TARUNKISHWOR'S PAPER ON LYCANID FALSE HEADS IN PROCEEDINGS B
Tarun's second paper 'Correlated evolution of multiple traits gives butterflies a false head' has been accepted in Proceedings of Royal Society B. This project used phylogenetic comparative analyses to investigate the evolution of false head markings in butterflies.
Apr 2025
INDUKALA'S PAPER IN JOURNAL OF INSECT PHYSIOLOGY
Indukala's second paper 'Development time integrates temperature and host plant cues for eyespot size in three tropical satyrine butterflies' has been accepted in the Journal of Insect Physiology. The title is self-explanatory.
LAB TRIP TO KATTAPPANA, IDUKKI
We have just returned from a lab trip to Kattappana, Idukki.
FUNDING FOR TARUN AND AKHIL TO ATTEND EMPSEB30, CZECHIA
Congratulations to Tarunkishwor Yumnam and Akhil Sadiq for securing funding to attend 30th edition of The European Meeting for PhD students in Evolutionary Biology (EMPSEB), 2-6 June 2025 in Milovy, Czechia. Tarun got a travel grant from the European Society for Evolutionary Biology and Akhil got sponsorship from the American Society of Naturalists.
Mar 2025
ULLASA AT GORDON RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON SPECIATION
Ullasa was invited to give a talk at the 2025 Gordon Research Conference in California, USA. His talk summarized the work on butterfly-host plant interactions work in our lab, including that of Ranjit Kumar Sahoo and Anaswara KS.
Feb 2025
AARINI GHOSH JOINS OUR LAB AS A POSTDOC
We are excited to welcome Aarini Ghosh as a postdoc in our lab. Aarini did her PhD from Ashoka University on bioacustics of katydids. In our lab, she will be working on butterfly-plant coevolution.
Jan 2025
ULLASA ELECTED FELLOW OF INDIAN ACADEMY OF SCIENCES
ullasa has been elected to the fellowship of the Indian Academy of Sciences, effective from 2025. He was one among 40 researchers across scientific disciplines who were elected this year. This is a recognition for the work our lab has done over the last 12 years at IISER TVM
POSTDOC POSITIONS
We have two postdoctoral openings in our lab. More details HERE.
Oct 2024
PAPER ON EYESPOTS
Our paper testing the role of growth rates on wing pattern polyphenism in satyrine butterflies has been accepted in Peer J.. This was work done by Freerk Molleman and Sridhar Halali when they part of our lab. DOI:10.7717/peerj.18295
Aug 2024
SUMAYYA DEFENDS HER THESIS
Congratulations Sumayya Abdul Rahim, who completed her PhD thesis defense. Sumayya worked on diversification of Impatiens plants in the northern Western Ghats. All the best to Sumayya in her future career
May 2024
SNEHA DEFENDS HER THESIS
Congratulations to Sneha Sadanand Joshi for successfully defending her PhD Thesis. Sneha is the fifth one to complete her thesis from our lab, and the first plant person. She worked on hybridization and population divergence in Impatiens in the Western Ghats. We wish her the best in her future endeavour
Apr 2024
LAB TRIP TO UPPUTHARA, VAGAMON
GOPAL AWARDED AN INSPIRE FACULTY AWARD
Congratulations to Gopal Murali, former PhD student of Vanasiri, who has been awarded an INSPIRE Faculty Fellowship! After his PhD in our lab, Gopal did a postdoc at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel, and was then a Fulbright-Kalam postdoctoral fellowship at University of Arizona, United States.
From left: Nikhil, Kushankur, Anaswara, Bhanu, Shreya, Indukala, Ullasa, Akshaya, Akhil, Ullasa. Lab trip to Vagamon, Apr 2024.
From left: Akhil, Ullasa, Anaswara, Kushankur, Indukala, Shreya, Abin, Akshaya, Nikhil and Bhanu. Perunad, during lab trip to Vagamon, Apr 2024.
Mar 2024
ISBE (MELBOURNE) TRAVEL GRANTS TO ANASWARA AND AKHIL
Congratulations to Akhil and Anaswara, who have been awarded travel grants to attend the International Society for Behavioral Ecology (ISBE) Congress 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. They have been awarded USD 2500 each
NEW POSTDOC KUSHANKUR JOINS US
Kushankur Bhattacharyya joined the lab as a postdoctoral fellow. He completed his PhD on the influence of monsoon on nesting behaviour of the ant Diacamma indicum from Annagiri Sumana's lab at IISER Kolkata.
Feb 2024
TARUN, ANASWARA AND BHANU AT FRONTIER SYMPOSIUM
Tarunkishwor, Anaswara and Bhanu presented at the Frontiers Symposium at IISER Thiruvananthapuram. Tarunkishwor gave a talk on the evolution of false-head patterns in butterflies. Anaswara presented a poster on colour preference in ovipositing butterflies, while Bhanu had a poster on desiccation tolerance in butterflies
Jan 2024
TALKS BY BHANU, AKHIL AND ULLASA AT INTER-IISER ECOLOGY MEETING
Ullasa, Bhanu and Akhil gave talks at the Inter-IISER Ecology Meeting at IISER Tirupati. Ullasa talked about our labs work on butterfly pupal plasticity. Akhil talked about how background matching interacts with disruptive colouration in protecting prey. Bhanu talked about evolution of desiccation tolerance in butterflies
TWO POSTDOCTORAL POSITIONS
We have two postdoctoral positions! See HERE for more details
CORE RESEARCH GRANT FROM DST-SERB
We got a Core Research Grant from DST-SERB! The project will focus on evolution of host-plant specialization.
GOPAL'S PAPER ACCEPTED
Gopal Murali's paper, done in collaboration with Sami Merilaita, is accepted in Journal of Evolutionary Biology! This was a simulation study that explored evolution of colour polymorphism in relation to selection by predators
Oct 2023
VISITING STUDENT - TAN PHAM
Tan Pham visited our lab to conduct experiments as part of our collaborative project with Freerk Molleman's group in Adam Mickiwicz University, Poland.
INDUKALA'S FIRST PAPER ACCEPTED
One more student - Indukala - got her first paper accepted this year! Her study "Adaptive phenotypic plasticity of mandibles with respect to host plants" is now accepted in Arthropod-Plant Interactions<.. We show how butterflies can adopt invest differentially in mandibles depending on host plant traits, and how this can be adaptive.
Aug 2023
SHREYA JOINS THE LAB
Shreya Mishra has joined her lab as a PhD student. We wish her the best for her career!
Jul 2023
TARUN, INDUKALA AND ULLASA AT BIOLOGY OF BUTTERFLIES CONFERENCE, PRAGUE
Tarunkishwor, Indukala and Ullasa attended the Biology of Butterflies 2023 Conference at Prague. Ullasa had a keynote talk on pupal colour plasticity in butterlifes. Tarunkishwor had a talk on the evolution false-head patterns in butterflies, while Indukala had a talk on butterfly eyespots and the role of growth rate.
Jun 2023
SNEHA'S FIRST PAPER ACCEPTED
Sneha Sadanand Joshi's paper "The ecology of hybrid zone formation and maintenance in Impatiens" has been accepted in International Journal of Plant Sciences! The study includes multiple field and lab experiments in which we mapped the narrow hybrid zone between two species, and investigated the ecology of this hybrid zone. Congratulations to Sneha on her first paper!
May 2023
NEW MASTERS STUDENTS
We welcome three masters students for the year - Akshaya Jayan, Abin Krishna and Nikhil Collins.
Apr 2023
MoE STARS GRANT
Our lab has received a STARS grant from MoE! The project will focus on evolution of desiccation tolerance in butterflies.
AKHIL'S FIRST PAPER ACCEPTED
Akhil Sadiq's first paper accepted in Behavioural Ecology! The study, titled "Hiding among colors: background color diversity impedes detection time " explores how background properties can influence camouflage in prey animals.
HARSHAD'S PAPER ACCEPTED
Harshad Mayekar's final paper from his thesis "Pupal colour-pupation substrate correlation in butterflies" is now accepted in Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata. We demonstrate how pupal colour plasticity is tightly linked to substrate choice in a comparative experimental study across 5 butterfly species.
LAB TRIP TO MEGHAMALAI
We had our yearly lab trip, this time to the lovely Meghamalai, Tamil Nadu. As usual, it was great couple of days of fun!
From left: Bhanu, Indukala, Ullasa, Arsha, Anaswara, Sneha, Tarun, Simran and Akhil. Lab trip to Meghamalai, Apr 2023.
