Born on 13 September 1931 in Rotterdam, Jacobus Theodorus [Koos] Wiebes read biology at Leiden University where he obtained his Ph.D. in 1963 on studies of Indo-Australian fig wasps. He started working on spiders (Lycosidae, Pisauridae) and beetles (Carabidae, Cetoniidae, Helodidae), but he earned his scientific reputation as a specialist in fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae, Torymidae), their parasitoids and intricate host relationships (1961-1994: 89 papers). He served for many years on the staff of the Rijksmuseum van Natuurlijke Historie, Leiden (1955-1970, initially as assistant, later as curator of Coleoptera and as assistant director since 1965), to return as director of the newly merged national zoology and geology museums (ad interim 1982-1984,... |