Dr Shubhranil Brahma

Myself Dr. Shubhranil Brahma, former research scholar from Entomology Research Unit, Department of Zoology, The University of Burdwan, West Bengal, India. Recently I am serving Department of Zoology, Durgapur Women’s College as a Guest Lecturer. I have worked on taxonomy of biting and non-biting midges under the supervision of Prof. Niladri Hazra, of the said department. Title of my Ph. D. thesis is “SYSTEMATICS AND BIOLOGY OF THE GENUS DASYHELEA KIEFFER, 1911 (DIPTERA: CERATOPOGONIDAE: DASYHELEINAE) OF THE DELTAIC PROPER OF GANGETIC WEST BENGAL, INDIA”. There are seven (07) publications I have made so far in various international journals. The fields in which I have got expertise are: collection of adult and immature midges, rearing of immature midges, taxonomic identification up to species level, microphotography of the adult and immature midges including scanning electron micrography, analysis of DNA Barcode data, a preliminary idea on cladistic analysis of midges, microbiological study of insect gut bacteria, biochemical study of habitat substrata of the insects, behavioral observation and basic statistical analyses.

In this context, presently I am searching for a laboratory where I can extend my research on the systematics of biting midges, specially focusing on Culicoides. However, I am also interested to study other insect groups having medical importance, viz. sandflies, blackflies etc. My prime objective during the study would be to merge the morphological as well as molecular taxonomy, molecular phylogenetics etc. to provide a better identification scheme and their possible relationship for medically or veterinary important insect groups. However, ecological and behavioral study, mode of disease transfer etc. are also my fields of interest.