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Kathy Darragh

@kdarragh.bsky.social

602 followers 409 following 25 posts

Assistant professor at Indiana University Bloomington. Evolution, chemical ecology, insect pheromones.

Posts Replies Media

Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Together with @labschulz.bsky.social and the Dickschat lab we found that springtails produce unique terpene compounds using a clade of lineage-specific microbial-like terpene synthase enzymes. To find out more see our recent publication: onlinelibrary.wiley.com/share/8SEJSR...

Phylogeny of terpene synthase enzymes showing that springtail terpene synthase enzymes form a distinct clade from those found in bacteria, fungi, and mites, rooted with a plant enzyme.

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 31/10/2025

Darragh lab ready for Halloween! @zar-rebholz.bsky.social

Three people dressed in Halloween costumes as a pupa, butterfly, and caterpillar

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 11/09/2025

I'm looking for PhD students to join the lab starting August 2026. We study the evolution of insect chemical signals so if you're interested in evolutionary biology, chemical ecology, molecular biology, behavior, or genetics, this could be a good fit for you! More info here: tinyurl.com/mrxchwfm

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 21/06/2025

Come here me talk at #Evol2025 about butterfly chemical evolution today (Saturday) at 3pm in room Athens AB (Parallel Evolution I). Stay for Zarley Rebholz on chemical convergence between plants and ladybirds!

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 25/02/2025

Convergent floral scent loss following transition to hummingbird pollination in spiral gingers (Costus). I had so much fun on this project with @kathleenmkay.bsky.social and Santiago Ramirez and am thrilled to see it published now in @MolBioEvol! academic.oup.com/mbe/article/...

Flowers from two species of spiral ginger (Costus). On the left a bee-pollinated species, and on the right a hummingbird-pollinated species.

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Kathy Darragh @kdarragh.bsky.social · 20/12/2023

Great to see this fun project published! We found that the larger valley carpenter bee males with darker glands produce higher amounts of pheromone, which acts as a long-range attractant.

Valley carpenter bee photographed in Davis, CA.

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