Femi E Benny

About

Background

I’m from India, and completed my Master’s in Applied Zoology (Entomology) at Calicut University Campus, Kerala, in 2018. I worked at ATREE Bangalore from 2019, researching the importance of insects in the diet and livelihoods of indigenous communities of Northeast India.

Research interests

I’m passionate about exploring how insects behave and interact with their environment, with a particular soft spot for wasps — especially hornets! I love heading into under-explored places, looking for insects and maybe even discovering new species. I’m a taxonomist by training, and love hymenopteran taxonomy, especially of Trigonalyidae, Vespinae and the Anthophorini tribe.

Public Writing

Benny, F. E. (2026) Buzz Pollinators of the Indian Himalayas. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. & Thejavikho Chase (2026) “We’ve been eating it for more than 100 years”: how one community turns stink bug infestations into lunch. The Guardian.
Benny, F. E. (2026) Commentary: Vanishing mango landraces reflect the loss of shared landscapes. Mongabay.
Benny, F. E. & Laura M. (2025) Wasps: unsung heroes of the insect world. IUSSI.
Benny, F. E. (2025) Where hornets are Queens and not pests: a journey into the Land of Hills. UCL.
Benny, F. E. (2025) What it Took to Document India’s Edible Insects. Hamuli, International Society of Hymenopterists Newsletter.
Benny, F. E. (2025) Giant Water Bugs: Close Encounters with Toe Biters. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. (2024) Spot Me If You Can: Mimicry and Camouflage in Insects. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. (2024) Nature’s Artists: The World of Potter Wasps. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. & Amritha Jaiprakash (2024) Moving Beyond “Creepy Crawlies.” Kerala Calling.
Benny, F. E. (2024) Quest for the Himalayan Giant: A Journey to the Realm of Apis laboriosa. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. (2024) Climate change and insects: We don’t know enough. Antenna (Royal Entomological Society).
Benny, F. E. (2024) Spider Wasps: The Solitary Hunters of Your Backyard. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E. (2024) Beyond the Sting: Asian Giant Hornets as Food and Medicine in Nagaland. Round Glass Sustain.
Benny, F. E., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2023) As India faces an egg shortage, can insects be a potential solution for protein and nutrition? Mongabay.
Benny, F. E. (2022) Neither a cow nor a buffalo: the curious case of Mithun aka Gayal aka Bos frontalis semi-domestication in NE India. The Morung Express.
Benny, F. E. (2022) Facing Your Flying Fears. Youth for Nature.
Benny, F. E. (2021) Understanding the science behind avian influenza. Mongabay.
Benny, F. E. (2021) Eating insects could be the future of food. Mongabay.
Benny, F. E. (2021) Understanding the Alarm Around Asian Giant Hornets in the US. The Wire Science.

Research

Career

2024–present: PhD Candidate, University College London, UCL Research Excellence Scholarship (RES)
2020–2024: Project Associate, Insect Biosystematics and Conservation Lab, Ashoka Trust for Research in Ecology and the Environment (ATREE), Bangalore
2019–2020: Junior Research Fellow, Insect Biosystematics and Conservation Lab, ATREE, Bangalore
2016–2018: MSc Applied Zoology (Entomology), University of Calicut, Kerala
2013–2016: BSc Zoology, Providence Women’s College, Kerala

Project

Understanding the ecosystem services of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) using mixed methods approach (ecology + ethnobiology)

Publications

Benny, F. E., Chase, T., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2026) Indigenous Knowledge associated with the harvest of the Asian Giant Hornet among the indigenous communities of Northeast India. In: Jamir, T. & Müller, J. (eds.) Indigenous Knowledge in Transformation. Northeast India. Sidestone Press. doi: 10.59641/8y5797bk
Robertson, D.K., Vale-Hagan, W., Stratakos, A.C., Doran, O., Drinkwater, E., Wu, X., Miller, M.E., Davies, L., Lange, K.L., Nakamura, Y., Benny, F. E., Sumner, S., Koidis, A., & Stergiadis, S. (accepted) An updated review of the opportunities and challenges in insects as food and feed. Nutrition Bulletin.
‘Benny, F. E., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2026) New species of Elaphropoda Lieftinck, 1966 and Habropoda Smith, 1854 (Hymenoptera, Apidae) from Arunachal Pradesh, India. European Journal of Taxonomy, 1073, 1–21. doi: 10.5852/ejt.2026.1073.3298’
‘Benny, F. E., Ranjith A.P., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2024) Addition to the Eumeninae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) fauna of India with the description of a new species from Northeast India. Entomon 49(3): 465-470. doi: 10.33307/entomon.v49i3.1268’
‘Benny, F. E., Ranjith, A.P. & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2024) Additions to the trigonalyid fauna of India with the description of a new species from south India. Zootaxa, 5419(2), 265–274. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5419.2.5’
‘Anoop, N.R., Benny, F. E., Yathumon, M.A., & Aswaj, Punnath. (2023) Butterflies with a taste for elephant dung: puddling of adult butterflies on elephant dung in India’’s Western Ghats. Food Webs. doi: 10.1016/j.fooweb.2023.e00323’
‘Ranjith, A., Burks, R.A., Benny, F. E., & Priyadarsanan, D.R. (2023) First report of two eulophid genera (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Eulophidae) from India with the description of two new species. Zootaxa, 5231(4), 471-480. doi: 10.11646/zootaxa.5231.4.8’
Kaimal, S.G., & Benny, F. E. (2019) Butterfly diversity of Vengalam mangroves, Calicut, Kerala. Perspectives in Life Sciences. UGC-HRDC, University of Calicut.

In the media

Print Pest MagazineUniversity College London asks pest professionals to help track what wasps are eating 26 Aug 2026
Print The EcologistAre wasps losing their rhythm? 20 Aug 2026
Print The iPAPERFlies are everywhere right now - but there is a simple £10 solution 5 Aug 2026

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