T. N. Ananthakrishnan
Taracad Narayanan Ananthakrishnan was an Indian entomologist and insect ecologist. His areas of specialization was in the study of gall insects and chemical ecology. He did extensive study of Indian thrips and made immense contributions to this field of science.
Early life
Ananathakrishnan, a native of Taracad in Palakkad district, Kerala, was the eldest son of T. K. Narayanan and T. A. Annapurani. After completing schooling at Mangalore and Palghat, he completed undergraduate study in zoology at the Madras Christian College, Madras with honours in 1946. He completed M.Sc. by research, obtained a Ph.D. followed by a D.Sc., all from the University of Madras.Career
Ananthakrishnan started his teaching career in Madras Christian College and was a lecturer in zoology there until 1948 before moving to Loyola College, Madras. At Loyola, he was a lecturer in zoology and was the Head of Department of Zoology until 1968 when he took up position as the founder director of the Entomology Research Institute that functions within the Loyola College campus at Chennai. He took up the position of director of Zoological Survey of India in 1977 and served for five years.He was greatly influenced by the Indian entomologist M. S. Mani. and M.Ekambaranathan. He was inspired to study insects by T. V. Ramakrishna Ayyar and Y. Ramachandra Rao. Being one of the early recipients of support from PL-480, he dedicated nearly three decades in the study and research of Indian thrips.
From the late 1990s onwards, every year he conducted a meeting to discuss on the subject of entomology in Chennai.