caption death_date image_size nationality field work_institutions birth_date known_for doctoral_students prizes image article_title name
vincent wigglesworth 11 february 1994 230px british entomologist university of cambridge 17 april 1899 metamorphosis peter lawrence royal society medal -lrb- 1955 -rrb- fellow of the royal vincent wigglesworth.jpg vincent wigglesworth
 sir vincent wigglesworth
vincent wigglesworth

sir vincent brian wigglesworth cbe frs -lrb- 17 april 1899 -- 11 february 1994 -rrb- was a british entomologist who made significant contributions to the field of insect physiology .
in particular , he studied metamorphosis .
his most significant contribution was the discovery that neurosecretory cells in the brain of the south american kissing bug , `` rhodnius prolixus '' , secrete a crucial growth hormone , prothoracicotropic hormone -lrb- ptth -rrb- , which regulates the process of metamorphosis .
this was the first experimental confirmation of the function of neurosecretory cells .
he went on to discover another hormone , called the juvenile hormone , which prevented the development of adult characteristics in `` r. prolixus '' until the insect had reached the appropriate larval stage .
wigglesworth was able to distort the developmental phases of the insect by controlling levels of this hormone .
from these observations , wigglesworth was able to develop a coherent theory of how an insect 's genome can selectively activate hormones which determine its development and morphology .
