| I offer a critical assessment of fruit fly research in Latin America based on the notion that many myths and misconceptions are forced upon students and young scientists or government officials. I argue that after an enlightening beginning of the century, during which many significant discoveries were made about the natural history of these insects, little progress has been observed in many areas of fruit fly research and management in Latin America during the past 50 years. This has been caused in part by the reductionist, single-species or pest-only approaches followed in the study of these marvelous insects, as well as by the scarcity of studies under natural conditions. To break this vicious cycle, I propose that we pay more attention to the natural... |
