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Academic Qualification

Postdoctoral research – Center for Reproductive Evolution, Syracuse University, USA
PhD – Institute of Evolutionary Biology and Environmental Studies, University of Zurich, Switzerland
MSc, BSc (Hons)- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore

Research Areas

Evolutionary biology; Insect biodiversity; Applied entomology

Research Interests

Insects represent a vast majority of the animal kingdom. They impact ecosystems and human wellbeing as pollinators of wild plants and agricultural crops, as waste processors and nutrient cyclers, as livestock feed and even as critical disease vectors. Despite an estimated six million species, less than 20% of insects have been formally described, with the greatest taxonomic gaps in the tropics. Reproduction often lies at the heart of this diversity: fitness is expressed through contributions to the next generation and reproductive traits evolve rapidly under natural and sexual selection.

In our lab, we study reproductive trait evolution: both the microevolutionary processes that drive divergence and the resulting macroevolutionary patterns of biodiversity. Additionally, studying insect reproduction can offer solutions for pressing applied challenges in Southeast Asia. We take an integrative approach and utilize a variety of experimental techniques and tools.  By combining field surveys of natural populations, comparative phylogenetics, controlled laboratory experiments and next-generation ‘omics, our work bridges fundamental evolutionary biology with sustainable solutions relevant to the tropics and urban environments.

Snapshot of current research

Reproductive Evolution: We investigate how reproductive traits (e.g. mating behaviour, female reproductive anatomy, male ornaments and ejaculates etc.) evolve under sexual and natural selection.

Eco-Evolutionary Plasticity: We study how environmental factors such as resource quality, temperature and even microbial associations at different life stages influence adult  reproduction.

Applied Entomology: We extend evolutionary and reproductive biology principles to seek sustainable solutions for insect related challenges in ecology, agriculture and public health.

Selected Publications

1. Silvaraju S, Loh RK, Kittelmann S and Puniamoorthy N. 2025. Genetic differentiation in domesticated black soldier fly (Hermetia illucens) populations. BMC Biology doi.org/10.1186/s12915-025-02480-9

2. Lee N, Tan JW, Wang YB, Tan T and Puniamoorthy N. 2025. Continental divergence in male reproductive plasticity to thermal and resource stress in a widespread dung fly. Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution 13, 1711105.

3. Zhang QH and Puniamoorthy N. 2025. Impact of Rearing Substrates on Black Soldier Fly Growth and Fertility: A Semi-Industrial Scale Study to Optimize Egg Collection. Insects 16(2):142.

4. Ong XR, Tan B, Chang CH, Puniamoorthy N and Slade EM. 2025. Identifying the Knowledge and Capacity Gaps in Southeast Asian Insect Conservation. Ecology Letters 28(1) e70038.

5. Silvaraju S, Zhang Q, Kittlemann S, Puniamoorthy N. 2024. Genetics, age, and diet influence gut bacterial communities and performance of black soldier fly larvae (Hermetia illucens). Animal Microbiome 6:56. 

6. Loh RK, Tan TRH, Yeo H, Yeoh TX, Lee TTM, Kutty SN and Puniamoorthy N. 2024. Metabarcoding mosquitoes: MinION sequencing of bulk samples gives accurate species profiles for vector surveillance (Culicidae). Frontiers in Tropical Diseases. 5:1223435.

7. Yeo H, Tan HZ, Tang Q, Tan TRH, Puniamoorthy N and Rheindt FE. 2023. Dense residential areas promote gene flow in dengue vector mosquito Aedes albopictus. iScience. 107577.

8. Walter M and Puniamoorthy N. 2022. Discovering novel reproductive genes in a non-model fly using de novo GridION transcriptomics. Frontiers in Genetics. 13:1003771.

9. Mrinalini, Koh CY and Puniamoorthy N. 2021. Rapid genomic evolution drives the diversification of reproductive genes in male dung beetles. Genome Biology and Evolution. 13 (8) evab172.

10. Ding H, Yeo H and Puniamoorthy N. 2020. Wolbachia infection in wild mosquitoes (Diptera: Culicidae): implications for transmission modes and host-endosymbiont associations in Singapore. Parasites & Vectors 13, 612.