Died 13 February 1952 | ||
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Tarakad Vaidyanatha Ramakrishna Ayyar (1880 - 13 February 1952) was an Indian entomologist who was born at Tarakad in Palghat. Born in a family that had moved to Palghat from Tanjore, he was the second of three brothers. His early schooling was at the Native High School and later at Victoria College, Palghat. He received a degree in zoology from the Madras Christian College in 1898 and was awarded a Buckie studentship to continue postgraduate studies. He then went to teach at Maharajah's College in Cochin. A younger brother T.V. Subrahmaniam also became an entomologist. In 1904, he joined as a Research Assistant to Prof. H. Maxwell-Lefroy at Surat. In 1905, he moved to the Imperial Agricultural Research Institute at Pusa and in 1906 became a Senior Entomological Assistant to C.A. Barber, the Government Botanist. In 1908, he took charge of entomology education at the College of Agriculture at Coimbatore. In 1927 he received a Ph.D. from Stanford University for his work on the thrips of India.
He was a founder of the Entomological Society of India. Phyllochoreia ramakrishnai was named after him. He was editor of the Madras Agricultural Journal for a few years.