Pritha Dey
@pritha126
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Moth biologist | Scientist-in-charge, Research Collections Facility at National Centre for Biological Sciences, Bangalore, India
Joined January 2013
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Pinned Tweet
I am very glad to be a part of the team gathering global evidence of conservation for moths and butterflies. It is the need of the hour to spotlight insect conservation more than ever before!
Browse the evidence for
#butterfly
&
#moth
conservation actions in our new
@ConservEvidence
synopsis: or download PDF:
Thanks to reviewers
@DirkMaes5
@bonebraking
@blackdogbirder
@peter_smetacek
@pritha126
@ElliTzirkalli
@Perpetra
..
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My student got accepted for a PhD position, that too with the person, who is my mentor and someone I look up to!!
#smallacademicjoys
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I recommended someone's PhD application, a first for me as a post-doc. Just got the news that he got accepted for the position!
#smallacademicjoys
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Spent last Sunday giving a popular talk on moths, their ecology and evolution at
@bicblr
, to end this year's National Moth Week!
Highlight of the talk was a question from an audience: "What do you learn from moths?" My answer was: Resilience :)
#mothsmatter
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#ATBC2023
Day 1, with an engaging workshop on Nature journaling!! We just sketched, noticing every detail of a leaf, a seed pod etc. for straight two hours :)
Pic 1: showing off my sketch of a seed pod
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📢️New Paper!
In a paleotropical community of moths under predation pressure of the lesser false vampire bat (Megaderma spasma),we found that larger moths with less evasive capabilities are the most vulnerable to predation!
#moths
#preypredator
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How insects have been a part of human art and culture for ages, intrigues me the most! Here is a fabric embroidered with the forewings of a beetle as gems from India, circa 1900s.
From a recent trip to the Senckenberg German Entomological Institute
#insects
#insectart
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Preprint alert 🔉
We adopted a community wide trait based approach to investigate what makes certain species of moths more vulnerable to predation by bats. That too, the ones that adopt flexible foraging strategies! 🦇 (sadly no moth emoji)
#preypredator
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New preprint! 🙌 An independent exploratory work which revealed an interesting pattern.
Across the elevation,the overall trait space of Geometrid moth assemblages showed no difference,with decreasing diversity and increasing turnover!
#westernhimalaya
#ruffordfoundation
#moths
Trait distribution in Geometrid moth assemblages does not vary along a western Himalayan elevational gradient
#biorxiv_ecology
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Had a wonderful opportunity to speak about my work at the Society of European Lepidopterology Congress this year!
@LESTUDIUM
and
@ForumHerbulot
Encouraging to see so much happening with moths and butterflies globally 🦋🦋
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The blue-eyed yellow bush frog, one of many endemic taxa that I witnessed in my recent field trip. This one was sitting patiently for an entire day in front of my room
..
#westernghats
#frogs
#raorchestesluteolus
#endemic
#biodiversity
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Moths have intrigued Van Gogh, Shakespeare, by their beauty and their curious flight to flame. Art and literature tell us stories and narratives, which can inspire us to understand the understudied biodiversity better. Here is my piece with
@RGSustain1
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Happy to share again :) and thank
@paintedbat
who taught me everything bats as I only knew moths!
Find out why and which moths get hunted by a bat with a unique hunting strategy 👇
#preypredator
#moths
New work by
@pritha126
et al. reports a trait-based understanding of vulnerability of a
#moth
community to predation by a sympatric
#bat
with flexible foraging strategies:
#Lepidoptera
Photos: Ambulyx sp. (credit P.Dey); M. spasma (credit R.Chakravarty).
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Why moths are textbook examples of natural selection
A new paper in
@EvolLetters
shows birds actively prey on invasive box tree moths, with white morph moths hunted more often. Along with other forces, predation influences the ratios of color forms in natural habitats.
Paper by R. Poloni et al.
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The Caterpillar Rearing Project got a spotlight from the Entomological Society of India. This is a huge encouragement for the team and the participants to take it forward
Thanks
@ShashankPathour
for inviting me to write this.
@Moth_Week
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Submit soon :) an exciting opportunity for ecologists in India!
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Have you seen these cocoons on the walls in your house? Wondered what they will turn into?
Do read my write up about these curious cocoons :)
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I am in the process of reviewing abstracts for a symposium.
In a bizarre submission, someone wants to just "wonder what a species does in the ecosystem"
No hypothesis. No methods. No conclusions
#academics
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So cool!
@Mothyash
finally some answer to why insects fly the towards light!
NEW PAPER: Ever wondered why insects fly in all sorts of crazy patterns around lights at night? So did we! We set about recording flying insects to work out what's going on. I'll summarise what we found in this 🧵. Spoiler: We don't think they confuse lights with the moon.
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Here is a piece I did with
@RGSustain1
on defences of caterpillars of a group of moths. Are they able to defend themselves against all predators?
Find out in the article below!
Read more about the uncommon survival strategies of these moths here:
Text: Pritha Dey
@pritha126
Photos: Ripan Biswas
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A little late for me to share, but thanks
@NatureIn_Focus
for featuring my work and
@Moth_Week
🐛
For
#MothWeek
, we talked to the country coordinator for
#NationalMothWeek
(
@Moth_Week
) in
#India
, Pritha Dey (
@pritha126
).
Find out how
#butterflies
are different from
#moths
, learn all about the inexpensive pastime of
#mothwatching
and more.🔻🔻🔻
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A busy bunch of caterpillars that I am observing now and got used to their routine. Munching, huddling, cuddling, communicating and moving on to the next leaf. Repeat.
#moths
#arctiinemoths
#monsoonfieldwork
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Hurry up!
Also
@gauri_gharpure
and myself have a symposium on Inset ecology. Do consider submitting!
#insects
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Pupa of Tailed Palmfly, probably parasitized.
I mean, look at that balance 😮
ID : Tarun Karmakar
#bigbutterflymonthindia
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Yes! It is time someone spoke about this. Well-known people in our field create content after getting moth species identified from me. Somehow, they think that it is 'trivial' to acknowledge me 🤷♀️
Mood: 😡
Dear people - TAXONOMY is a trained science. When
@TrEE_Lab
members identify plants for you, it is not trivial. The students & JRFs have been "trained" & they are coming from a place of experienced science. Acknowledge it. Interestingly, we don't consider teaching..
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A wonderful weekend over a workshop on moths and butterflies at
@kalingacre
. A fantastic creative group of enthusiasts who took part, made the workshop fun beyond just learning and discussion. They painted, wrote poems and inspired me so much :)
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Check out our new initiative! All the details are in the link
#nationalmothweek
#indianmoths
#caterpillars
Moth Monitoring Program for School. More details and registration @
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A dry leaf? A moth?
.....
A Fascellina chromataria moth exhibiting strong mimicry game. The outline of the wings are broken to give a disruptive pattern, so that it blends well.
This one is a personal favourite from my last year's sightings 🙂
#moth
#mimicry
#survivalstrategy
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The bold colour palette of a Nevrina procopia (Family Crambidae).
This species was described from Sri Lanka and found in India and Bhutan
#moths
#mothsofinstagram
#Lepidoptera
#westernghats
#biodiversity
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Seconds after I spotted this Assassin Bug (Sycanus collaris), it was devouring the unfortunate moth. I wish I could capture the speed and stealth with which this hunt took place!
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Just appreciating how beautiful this moth is! Nothing else.
A common species here in south India--Cassephyra cyanosticta (Geometridae)
..
#moths
#lepidoptera
#observations
#fieldwork2021
#westernghats
#mothsarefascinating
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For all PhD and postdocs in India who never get their fellowships and salaries on time! Share widely
Young scientists of your country awaiting their salaries, grants, appointments since months, yet again! Y they put in pathetic situation every yr?
@narendramodi
@Swamy39
@republic
@ndtv
@ndtvindia
@IndiaToday
@ABPNews
@timesofindia
@kvijayraghavan
@dpradhanbjp
@mansukhmandviya
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My first encounter with a pill milipede one year back (probably Arthrosphaera sp.). I read up today that they are important soil decomposers, helps in nutrient cycling and their value in an ecosystem is much understated. I am keen to learn more about them now
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Much needed to attain effective outreach and education
Nature education and outreach without language barriers: we published a free booklet of Hindi names of Indian butterflies. Read further information and download a PDF file here: .
Please spread the word around to school teachers and nature NGOs.
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Yes 🤨 why?
You have to "write simply for a general scientific audience" when submitting to PNAS/Science/Nature. But then every paper from cell, molecular, or cancer research is a jargon and acronym salad that is completely incomprehensible. Why the double standard for Ecology?
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It is getting warmer in Bangalore, so look for mating pairs in the backyard, around the host plants or......right in the middle of the road 😀
#canarabanklayout
#mothsofinstagram
#mothsmating
#moths
#lepidoptera
#springiscoming
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Meeting old friends and mentors, while gathering new experiences! Looking forward to the next few days 😀
@LESTUDIUM
@ForumHerbulot
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A very important discussion!!
How hard is it to do science in a language that’s not your first language? We quantified the severity of
#languagebarriers
for non-native English speakers when reading/publishing papers and attending/presenting at international conferences.
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Thank you for encouraging my work!
We are pleased to announce that Nature Mates Award 2021 will take place on 5th Dec '21 at Eco-tourism Park Butterfly Garden from 10.30 am onwards. Dr. Bulganin Mitra will be felicitated with Lifetime Achievement Award and Dr. Pritha Dey will be confered Young Biologist Award.
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Eumelea sp. : oozes fiery flamboyance but mostly found sitting on dung or scat. Don't gross-out with the background 😑
..
#Geometridae
#moths
#Lepidoptera
#dungmoths
#nocturnal
#mothsofinstagram
#mothsarebeautiful
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Looking forward to more exciting talks throughout the year!
Prof. Rohini Balakrishnan started her lab at
@CES_IISc
@iiscbangalore
in 1998. We are celebrating 25 yrs of RB lab with a series of talks. It started today with Rohini telling us how she transitioned from behavioural genetics of flies to all that her lab does now!
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One species that I had numerous encounters with during my fieldwork in Western Ghats this year was this part -moss-part- dry leaf mimicking moth, Pterocyclophora pictimargo. When often asked "why do you study moths?" , my answer lies in such odd beauties of nature
#mothsmatter
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Cool-adapted moths are going locally extinct and tracking the change in temperatures! Only a long term dataset can give such insights!
#moths
🚨 NEW PAPER out in
@Ecology_Letters
today 🚨
We found that cool-adapted
#moths
are more likely to be lost from areas where temperatures are high 🌡️, but this risk diminishes with higher precipitation 🌧️
Paper:
Thread 🧵 below 👇
@savebutterflies
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Not fruit-baiting. I found the half-eaten guavas on the ground being thronged by these moths, and as I neared the tree, a flying fox whooshed above! Was amazed to see how my favourite fruit is food for my favourite animals :)
#moths
#mothsarefascinating
#batsandmoths
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@paintedbat
Also there is this 😁
Queen Elizabeth II has passed away and the reactions have been, let's say, varied.
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The arbitariness of the recruitment process is baffling, to say the least
In its recent Scientist C recruitment,
@wii_india
rejected over 70 applicants (incl me) for not submitting supporting documents that they hadn't even (explicitly) requested! Many others rejected because our photos had no sign on them.
@moefcc
@AIRSAIndia
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Another fantastic publication from our lab! I saw the tracking of these insects first hand and learned so much. Great work Kasturi Saha and
@_harish_prakash
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@rounakchoudhary
Oh my! Thanks for sharing this! Beautiful:) I really want to know more about insects in art and culture
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Vernal Hanging parrot
....
Reminiscing one of the cutest sighting that I had last year in field. Also, painting after quite a while :)
..
#birdpainting
#acrylicpainting
#hobby
#birds
#vernalhangingparrot
#erythrina
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Advanced imaging technique supplements description of a forgotten species. Much needed work by the team
@pasi_sihvonen
#moths
A fun little project for me, but an extremely well managed project for
#DoctoralResearcher
#Mikael
@luomus
@helsinkiuni
- If you are fascinated by
#Museum
collections
#Imaging
#NewSpecies
check this new publication: w/
@pasi_sihvonen
&others. 🦋🔬🦠
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A much needed step to reduce bias in academia!
@FunEcology
📰Published📰 Double-blind peer review affects reviewer ratings and editor decisions at an ecology journal
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This is so meditative!
The whole thing was done in 30 minutes. What efficiency!
#NaturePhotography
#mothsandbutterflies
#naturearchitects
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@prancing_crane
@jyoti_archana
This is Lyssa zampa (Family Uraniidae), common name: Tropical swallowtail moth
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Thanks
@nitinsreedhar7
@Mint_Lounge
for featuring our project!
#SchoolChildren
across India can now be part of the National Moth Week this year through a new caterpillar-rearing project, which runs till 31 August, writes
@nitinsreedhar7
@pritha126
,
@vijaybarve
,
@indianmothlady
,
@inaturewatch
,
@NatureMatesNat
,
@WWFINDIA
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@venadavenu
@sumitdookia
@inaturalist
Yes, a lovely find! :) It is indeed Eupterote sp. (closest to undata) in my opinion. This genus is a tough one to arrive at a species
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@minivets
@krushnamegh
@IFoundButterfly
The last one is female of Yellow Orange tip. My colleague Tarun identified it :)
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🙄
Thanks Nature, i was just wondering what to do with my life savings
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@Zowi_Oudendijk
I have the same observations as
@lepidos_Rachit
from India for some species. If required, I can share those too :)
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@wildelock
@tif_knight
@idiv
@DAADIndia
@AmbAckermann
@BioinvNet
@ConservatNdesi
@ninad_mungi
Congratulations!
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@_harish_prakash
summed up my article with
@RGSustain1
nicely. Moths have inspired artists and thinkers through ages and that inspires me. Do give it a read
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@vinita_gowda
I do ask, but the reactions are bizarre. I went into an ugly brawl with a person who just didn't think that I did enough! Thanks for bringing this up!
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