FNZ 55 - Criconematina (Nematoda: Tylenchida) - Contributor notes
Wouts, WM 2006. Criconematina (Nematoda: Tylenchida). Fauna of New Zealand 55, 232 pages.
(
ISSN 0111-5383 (print),
;
no.
55.
).
Published 24 Mar 2006
ZooBank: http://zoobank.org/References/088E84BD-3DE3-4EA2-B6D9-C45BBC0A12F1
Contributor notes
Contributor Wim Wouts was born in the Wieringermeer, approximately 60 km north of Amsterdam, the Netherlands. He attended high school at Alkmaar. After two years service in the Dutch army he studied Plant Pathology at the Agricultural University at Wageningen. During a six month practical in Florida the citrus nematode (Radopholus similes) awakened in Wim an interest in nematodes, the most visible of plant pathogens, that has lasted ever since. After graduation Wim was employed as a nematologist by Entomology Division, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research (DSIR) in New Zealand. As Entomology Division was being prepared for transfer from Nelson to Auckland, and there being little prospect for the establishment of permanent experimental plots, Wim developed an interest in the morphology and systematics of nematodes. Having been raised in one of the major seed potato producing areas of the Netherlands he had long been intrigued by the potato cyst nematode (PCN), a menace largely still absent in the newly reclaimed polder where he lived, and where severe regulatory measures were imposed on farmers to control it. This, and an increasing awareness of the paucity of knowledge regarding the identity of this important species, started a fascination with PCN and other cyst-forming nematodes (Heteroderidae). He gained a scholarship at the University of California, Riverside, U.S.A. to study the Heteroderidae, which allowed him to pursue a PhD. The discovery in the deserts of Southern California of Heteroderidae taxa that did not produce cysts revealed the versatility of the group. In his PhD thesis Wim proposed a phylogenetic system, based on the morphology of fully developed females, that encompassed both cyst- and non-cyst-forming categories and included many known taxa for which the association with Heteroderidae had been doubtful. Species definitions were based on characteristics of the cyst and the juvenile. He established as a separate family the root-knot nematodes, until then considered to belong to the Heteroderidae. Soon after his return to Nelson the Institute of Nematology at Muenster, Germany became interested in a classification of the most economically important cyst-forming-nematodes of Europe based on larval characters. With the help of an Alexander von Humboldt fellowship Wim was able to work in their laboratory and establish this classification.
From the mid-1970s, with the transfer to Auckland a reality, and the classification of the Heteroderidae accomplished, Wim worked on entomopathogenic nematodes, then generally known as Neoaplectana. He established the validity of the older name Steinernema, provided updated nomenclature for the group, clarified their life cycle (as well as the life cycle of species of the recently proposed genus Heterorhabditis), and developed a liquid medium for the nematodes to grow in. During this period he maintained excellent relationships with the Institute at Muenster resulting in several exchange visits. In the late 1980s training in Criconematidae classification at the Institute in Muenster was made possible by generous funding from the Humboldt Foundation. As Criconematidae are well represented in New Zealand they kept Wim busy from then on and well into his retirement. Several comprehensive works were published, most in joint authorship, and culminating in this present contribution.
During his time in Auckland Wim was very involved in the Dutch community: initially in the Dutch Club where he served as secretary and organised a drama group, and later in the Dutch Village Trust where he served on the Board and was Chairman for one year. Wim presently lives in Perth, Western Australia.