Walter Douglas Hincks (3 September 1906–12 June 1961) was a British entomologist and museum curator. He was a world expert on the

Dermaptera Earwigs make up the insect order Dermaptera. With about 2,000 species in 12 families, they are one of the smaller insect orders. Earwigs have characteristic cerci, a pair of forcep-like pincers on their abdomen, and membranous wings folded ...

Biography

Hincks originally trained as a chemist and worked in the Pharmaceutical sector before his transition to professional entomology. He became passionate for entomology during his time as a member of the Leeds Naturalist's Club and was particularly encourage to take an interest in the Dermaptera by

Malcolm Burr Malcolm Burr (6 July 1878 - 13 July 1954) was an English author, translator, entomologist, and geologist. He taught English at the School of Economics in Istanbul, and spent most of his life in Turkey. Life Burr was a noted specialist of earwig ...

. In 1941 he spent some time rearranging the coleoptera collections at the

Yorkshire Museum The Yorkshire Museum is a museum in York, England. It was opened in 1830, and has five permanent collections, covering biology, geology, archaeology, numismatics and astronomy. History The museum was founded by the Yorkshire Philosophical Soci ...

. The following year he was appointed the Honorary Curator of Entomology (excluding the lepidoptera). During 1942 Hincks worked with A. Smith and Reginald Wagstaffe to collect entomological specimens from

Askham Bog Askham Bog is small area of peat bog and Site of Special Scientific Interest situated within the Vale of York in North Yorkshire, England. It lies to the south-west of York, north of Copmanthorpe and near Askham Richard and Askham Bryan. It is ...

for the museum collections. He was instrumental in bringing the Ellis collection of insects to the museum in 1945. Hincks replaced Harry Britten as Assistant Keeper at the

Manchester Museum Manchester Museum is a museum displaying works of archaeology, anthropology and natural history and is owned by the University of Manchester, in England. Sited on Oxford Road ( A34) at the heart of the university's group of neo-Gothic buildings, ...

in 1947. In 1957 he was promoted to Keeper and remained in this position until his death in 1961. He, along with his technician (and eventual successor) Alan Brindle, were responsible for developing the extent and geographic scope of the Dermaptera collection at the museum. He was president of the Manchester Entomological Society in 1952–1953. Hincks also served as the Assistant Secretary for the North Western Naturalists' Society, and was recorder of the Lancashire and Cheshire Fauna Committee. He was a member of the

Yorkshire Naturalists' Union The Yorkshire Naturalists' Union is an association of amateur and professional naturalists covering a wide range of aspects of natural history. It is one of United Kingdom's oldest extant wildlife organisations and oldest natural history federat ...

, the Microscopy Society, and the Society for British Entomology. He was a member of the

Yorkshire Philosophical Society The Yorkshire Philosophical Society (YPS) is a charitable learned society (charity reg. 529709) which aims to promote the public understanding of the natural sciences, the social sciences, and the archaeology and history of York and Yorkshire. ...

during his time in York. Hincks published widely on the Dermaptera of the world, often in international journals, and was responsible for naming several new species of that order. He was well known as the co-author, with G S Kloet, of "A Checklist of British Insects".

Select publications

*Hincks, W.D. 1938. "Die Arthropodenfauna von Madeira nach den Ergebnissen der Reise von Prof. O. Lundblad Juli–August 1935. XI. Dermaptera", ''Arkiv för Zoologi' 30B(12), 1–8. *Hincks, W.D. 1940. "Dermaptera (earwigs) from Hainan Island". ''Notes d’Entomologie Chinoise'' 8(2), 29–40. *Hincks, W.D. 1947. "A new species of earwig from Sierra Leone (Dermaptera)", ''Entomologist'' 80, 201–203. *Kloet, G.S. and Hincks, W.D. 1945. ''A Checklist of British Insects''. Stockport. *Hincks, W.D. 1954. "Obituary: Harry Britten, M.Sc., A.L.S., F.R.E.S", ''Journal of the society for British entomology'' 4, 225–228. *Hincks, W.D. 1955. ''A Systematic Monograph of the Dermaptera of the World. Part I. Pygidicranidae: Diplatyinae''. British Museum (Natural History), London. *Hincks, W.D. 1955. "New species of pygidicranine earwigs (Dermaptera: Pygidicranidae)". ''Annals and Magazine of Natural History'' 12(8), 806–827. *Hincks, W.D. 1957. "Dermaptera". ''South African Animal Life'' 4, 33–94. *Hincks, W.D. 1959. ''A Systematic Monograph of the Dermaptera of the World. Part II. Pygidicranidae excluding Diplatyinae''. British Museum (Natural History), London.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hincks, Walter Douglas 1906 births 1961 deaths British entomologists Fellows of the Royal Entomological Society Members of the Yorkshire Philosophical Society Yorkshire Museum people Taxon authorities Members of the Yorkshire Naturalists' Union