[updated March 23, 2009]

Vikram Kode Iyengar
 
Department of Biology

Villanova University
800 Lancaster Avenue
Villanova, PA  19085
 
email: vikram.iyengar@villanova.edu
office: (610) 519-8081
fax:   (610) 519-7863
 
For my complete c.v., please click here.

 

 

Education:      
     
  2001      Cornell University          Ph.D. in Neurobiology and Behavior
   

 

 1993      Stanford University        B.A. in Human Biology

 

Teaching Information:
 
Courses
   
 

ANIMAL BEHAVIOR: Biology 3011 [lecture syllabus]; Biology 3012 [lab syllabus]
 

ECOLOGY: Biology 3255 [syllabus]
   
 

ENTOMOLOGY: Biology 3525 [syllabus]
   
 

Advanced Topics in BEHAVIORAL ECOLOGY: Biology 8900 [syllabus]
   
  SENIOR SEMINAR: Biology 5100-002 [syllabus]
   
  GENERAL BIOLOGY (non-majors): Biology 1101 [syllabus]

 

Research Interests: Behavioral Ecology, Chemical Ecology, Entomology
 
My research involves studying the behavioral ecology of arthropods, with an emphasis on sexual selection in insects. Arthropods are the most abundant and diverse group in the animal kingdom, and they occupy nearly every ecological niche in marine, freshwater and terrestrial habitats. The extraordinary evolutionary success of arthropods can be partly attributed to the remarkable diversity of mating systems, and these fascinating creatures provide many wonderful opportunities to do both field and laboratory studies. My research is driven by my interests in sexual selection and its consequences, and I study many different organisms that communicate through chemistry including moths, beetles and crustaceans. Specifically, I examine how the costs and benefits of mate choice and differences in parental investment shape the evolution of arthropod mating systems.  In 2007, I was awarded an NSF Research Initiation Grant for Broadening Participation in the Sciences, a two-year grant to continue my investigation of sexual selection in the rattlebox moth.  (For more on  my research, click here.)

 

Selected Publications (for the complete list of publications, click here):
 
Iyengar, V.K. (2009) Experience counts: females favor multiply-mated males over chemically-endowed virgins in a moth (Utetheisa ornatrix). Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 63: 847-855.
 
Iyengar, V.K. & Starks, B.D. (2008) Sexual selection in harems: male competition plays a larger role than female choice in an amphipod. Behavioral Ecology 19, 642-649.
 
Bezzerides, A., Iyengar, V.K., & Eisner, T. (2008) Female promiscuity does not lead to increased fertility or fecundity in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix). Journal of Insect Behavior 21: 213-221.
 
Bezzerides, A.L., Iyengar, V.K. and Eisner, T. (2005) Corematal function in Utetheisa ornatrix: interpretation in light of data from field-collected males. Chemoecology 15, 187-192.
 
Iyengar, V.K. and Eisner, T. (2004) Male indifference to female traits in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix). Ecological Entomology 29, 281-284.
 
Iyengar, V.K., Reeve, H.K., and Eisner, T. (2002) Paternal inheritance of a female moth's mating preference. Nature 419, 830-832.
 
Iyengar, V.K., Rossini, C. & Eisner, T.  (2001)  Precopulatory assessment of male quality in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix): hydroxydanaidal is the only criterion of choice.  Behavioral Ecology and Sociobiology 49, 283-288.
 
Iyengar, V.K. & Eisner, T.  (1999)  Female choice increases offspring fitness in an arctiid moth (Utetheisa ornatrix). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 96, 15013-15016.
 

 

Extra-curricular Activities
 
My main extra-curricular interests have always been sports and music.... 
(For more on my interests outside the classroom, click here.)