Vincent Wigglesworth

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Vincent Wigglesworth

Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth (born April 17, 1899 in Kirkham , Lancashire , † February 11, 1994 in Cambridge ) was a British entomologist . He is considered to be one of the founders of insect physiology .

Life

Wigglesworth studied medicine at Cambridge University (Gonville and Caius College) and at St. Thomas Hospital in London, interrupted from service with the artillery in World War I. Even during his studies he dealt with the physiology of insects as a study object in medicine (more precisely, excretion of cockroaches). After completing his studies, he was a lecturer in medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine from 1926 to 1945 . Professor PA Buxton hoped that studying the physiology of medically relevant insects would make advances in control and created a new lectureship for this, which he filled with Wigglesworth. From 1936 to 1944 he was a reader in entomology at the University of London and from 1945 to 1952 in Cambridge, when he was there Quick Professor of Biology. In 1967 he retired. From 1943 he was director of the insect physiology research group of the Agricultural Research Council in Cambridge.

Rhodnius prolixus , the Wigglesworth laboratory animal

plant

Wigglesworth discovered the mechanisms of hormonal control of the metamorphosis of insects. The South American blood-sucking bedbug Rhodnius prolixus ( Triatominae ), the vector of Chagas disease, served him as an experimental animal . In his research he benefited from his good training as a histologist . He found a growth hormone ( prothoracotropic hormone , PTTH), which was produced by nerve cells, and the juvenile hormone produced in the corpora allata , which inhibited development into adulthood. By manipulating the release of hormones, he was able to control the stage of development of the insects. He also studied the role of various insect enzymes and the mechanism by which insects hatch from the egg. His books on insect physiology, which appeared in the 1930s, were standard works. He wrote more than 300 scientific papers, mostly working alone. But he had numerous students at his institute.

Honors

In 1964 he was knighted as a Knight Bachelor and in 1951 as Commander of the Order of the British Empire . 1966/67 he was president of the Association of Applied Biologists. In 1939 he became a Fellow of the Royal Society . In 1955 he received the Royal Medal . In 1948 he gave the Croonian Lecture . In 1960 he was elected a member of the German Academy of Sciences Leopoldina . Also in 1960 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences , 1971 to the National Academy of Sciences and 1982 to the American Philosophical Society .

Private

In 1928 he married Katherine Semple (died 1986), a children's book illustrator, with whom he had three sons and a daughter.

Fonts

  • The physiology of ecdysis in Rhodnius prolixus (Hemiptera). II Factors controlling moulting and metamorphosis, Quart. J. Microsc. Sci. 77, 1934, pp. 191-223
  • Insect Physiology 1934, 6th edition Methuen 1966
  • Principles of Insect Physiology 1939, 7th edition Chapman and Hall 1972
  • Insect Hormones, Freeman 1970
  • Insects and the life of man: collected essays on pure science and applied biology, Chapman and Hall, Wiley 1976
  • The physiology of insect metamorphosis, Cambridge University Press 1954
  • The life of insects, Cleveland, World Pub. Co 1964
    • German translation: The life of insects, Edition Rencontre Lausanne 1971
  • The control of growth and form; a study of the epidermal cell in an insect, Cornell University Press 1959

literature

  • M. Locke: Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth, CBE April 17, 1899-12 February 1994 , Biographical Memoirs of Fellows of the Royal Society 42, 1996, p. 541
  • JS Edwards: Sir Vincent Wigglesworth and the coming of age of insect development , The International journal of developmental biology 42, 1998, pp. 471-473.

Web links

Individual proof

  1. ^ List of members Leopoldina, Sir Vincent Brian Wigglesworth
personal data
SURNAME Wigglesworth, Vincent
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Wigglesworth, Vincent Brian (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION British entomologist
DATE OF BIRTH April 17, 1899
PLACE OF BIRTH Kirkham
DATE OF DEATH February 11, 1994
Place of death Cambridge