Wigglesworth, Vincent Brian (1899-1994)

English entomologist whose research covered many areas of insect physiology, especially the role of hormones in growth and metamorphosis. He was knighted in 1964.

Wigglesworth was born in Kirkham, Lancashire, and studied at Cambridge. During World War I he served in France, and then qualified in medicine at St Thomas's Hospital, London. He was director of the Agricultural Research Council Unit of Insect Physiology at Cambridge 1943-67, as well as professor of biology at Cambridge 1952-66.

Wigglesworth's work on insect metamorphosis was carried out mainly on the bloodsucking insect Rhodnius prolixus. He demonstrated that the hormones responsible for growth and moulting, and for preventing the development of adult characteristics until the insect larva is fully grown, are produced in specific areas of the brain.

Wigglesworth investigated many other aspects of insect anatomy and physiology, including the mechanisms involved in hatching; the mode of action of adhesive organs in walking; the role of the outer waxy layer on insects' bodies in preventing water loss; the respiration of insect eggs; insect sense organs and their use in orientation; and the functions of insect blood cells.

His book The Principles of Insect Physiology 1939 became the standard text on insect physiology.