Wilhelm Heinrich Ferdinand Nevermann

Nevermann was born in Hamburg on 31 October 1881. His parents were Johann Joachim Heinrich Nevermann and Johanna Henriette Nevermann [née Meier].[1]

Nevermann spent much of his working life in Costa Rica, where he was a resident from about 1909.[2] He owned a banana plantation called the Hamburg Farm near the Reventazón River at Ebene, Limón[3] (near the modern town of Cairo[4]), and was a professor at the National School of Agriculture.[5]

Nevermann married Annie Rownd Deters (1888-1984) in 1909, and they had four children.[6]

The Dunn's Road Guarder snake, Crisantophis nevermanni (Dunn, 1937), was given its specific name by Emmett Reid Dunn (1894-1956) in honour of Nevermann.[7]

In June 1938 Nevermann invited his friend, the entomologist Alexander Bierig (1884-1963), to stay with him on his plantation. On the night of 30 June, while out collecting insects, Nevermann and Bierig were accidentally shot by an American hunter[8] passing through the area, who had mistaken them for an animal. Nevermann died of his injuries in the hospital at Limón on 3 July 1938.[5] Bierig was shot in the shoulder, but survived.[5]

in 1941 Nevermann's collection of Costa Rican Coleoptera was accessioned by the U.S. National Museum.[9][10] It comprised 33,000 specimens including representatives of 2,800 species, with Types of around 400 species, 10,000 Coleoptera that were unidentified plus Nevermann's field notes and observations.[11]