Walter Hüther (1931 - 2019)

By Peter Decker

Walter Hüther, member of the International Society for Myriapodology, scientist and university lecturer, died on 11 May 2019 at the age of 87 in Bochum, Germany.

Hüther was interested in Pauropoda, Symphyla, Collembola and Entomology. He studied and received his doctorate at the Zoological Institute at the University of Mainz on the ecology of springtails, pauropods and mites in vineyards of the Palatinate.

At the beginning of the 70's he came to the Department of Biology at the University Bochum and taught there until his retirement. He built up the Entomological Collections there and with patience was able to bring the diversity of the arthropods closer to the students in lectures and excursions.

He was inspired by Prof. Friedrich Schaller to study pauropods and was in exchange with other colleagues such as Paul Remy. In 1972 he took part in the Second International Congress of Myriapodology in Manchester and presented his work on the ecology of pauropods, one of the extremely few contributions to this group of animals at the CIM Congresses.

Publications of Walter Hüther for Myriapoda

He was inspired by Prof. Friedrich Schaller to study pauropods and was in exchange with other colleagues such as Paul Remy. In 1972 he took part in the Second International Congress of Myriapodology in Manchester and presented his work on the ecology of pauropods, one of the extremely few contributions to this group of animals at the CIM Congresses.

-- 1959. Zur Ernährung der Pauropoden. - Die Naturwissenschaften 46 (19): 563-564.
-- 1971. Zwei interessante Pauropoden aus dem Oberrheingebiet. - Mitteilungen der Pollichia, Reihe III 18: 170-177.
-- 1974. Zur Bionomie mitteleuropäischer Pauropoden. - Symposia of the Zoological Society of London 32: 411-421.
-- 1975. Ein neuer Decapauropus aus der Pfalz. - Revue d'Ecologie et de biologie du sol 12 (2) : 487-491.
-- 1982. Symphylen und Pauropoden des Bausenbergs. - Decheniana, Beihefte 27: 56-75
-- 1985. Verbreitung und Vorkommen einiger Pauropodenarten im Brasilianischen Amazonas-Gebiet. - In: Ellis WN, Jeekel CAW & Pieters FFJM (ed.) Proceedings of the 6th International Congress of Myriapodology. Amsterdam, 12-17 April 1984. - Contributions to Zoology 55 (1): 95-99.
-- & Kinkler H 2013. Zwei wenig bekannte Gruppen der Tausendfüßer, "Wenigfüßer" und "Zwergfüßer" des Naturschutzgebiets Gronenborner Teiche in Leverkusen (Myriapoda: Pauropoda, Symphyla). - Decheniana 166: 51-54.

A detailed account of Wolfram Dunger's life and work is given by Decker et al. 2020 in Schubartiana (pdf).