Born at Kirkham in England, Wigglesworth was educated at Cambridge University and at St. Thomas's Hospital, London. He subsequently held posts as lecturer in medical entomology at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and as reader in entomology at the universities of London and Cambridge. He was director of the Agricultural Research Council Unit of Insect Physiology at Cambridge (1943–1967) and from 1952 was Quick Professor of Biology. Wigglesworth's main line of research was in insect physiology, much of his work being done using the bloodsucking bug Rhodnius prolixus. He carried out research on hormonal stimulation in insect ecdysis (molting of the cuticle), glandular growth and reproductive secretions, external stimuli perception (e.g., heat receptors on antennae, and body hairs), and insects' perception of time, due to metabolic rate and daily rhythm. His most important publications are The Physiology of Insect Metamorphosis (1954), The Control of Growth and Form (1959), and The Principles of Insect Physiology (1939; 6th edition, 1965).