Arthropods - The World of Minibeasts

This Internet site has been written by José Verkest and myself, Maria Pfeifer. Dave Tickner has given us a hand translating the text into English.

José was born in 1917. He is Belgian and was a military officer until he retired. Most of José's career was spent in Germany and eventually he became a colonel at the headquarters of the Belgian forces of Germany in Cologne. Today he lives on the shores of lake Rursee in the northern Eifel region.

José has been taking pictures of invertebrates since the fifties, when flashguns became commercially available. He has an amazing knowledge of insect species and their behaviour. Although he is widely read, the knowledge that he has acquired from years of field work often exceeds that found in books and journals.

In February 2000 José bought his first computer. He likes the idea of processing his pictures on a computer. Well - he is old enough to know what he is doing.

I was born in 1958. Being German, I have a "Diplom" degree in biology and studied computer sciences for another year. Since 1993 I have been working as a writer specialising in technology, science and landscape (including photography and website development). I live in Aachen near the border between Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands.

José and I continuously work on his archive. As he is retired, José has got all the time in the world to poke

around taking pictures. At least once a year I take a week or two out from work to go on a longer field trip with him.

In terms of insect photography, José has 35 years more of experience than me. This is why most of the pictures published on this site were taken by him. Working with him has enriched my life.

In turn, José says my ideas and my energy have made his work much more interesting. This is probably just a euphemism for bringing some stress into his otherwise quiet life. For example I organized five different computer courses for him within the space of three months so that he could get to know his new toy and learn to make the most of it. Hopefully he has also had some fun along the way.

For both our sakes, and for those who might get some enjoyment from this site, I hope we will continue to work together for a long time to come.

Dave is British and was born in 1969. In 2000, he completed his PhD in ecology at the University of Birming- ham in the UK. I met him in a Field Studies Council centre in the English Lake District. He was so enthusiastic about the website, that he spontaneously agreed to proof read the English translation that I was putting together.

The three of us have invested a lot of time, work and money into this website without any financial gain. We do it purely for enjoyment and we are happy to share with you our enthusiasm for the other inhabitants of this planet.