Dr. Steve Gaimari Plant Pest Diagnostics Center, California Department of Food and Agriculture
Steve Gaimari is very enthusiastic about his specialty – the study of flies – and has a sense of humor about it, too. He starts his presentation by stating, “Flies don’t have the best image in the court of public opinion.” He then goes on to describe the diverse and ever-changing world of flies, noting that 160,000 species have been described and named, new species are being discovered all the time, and that it is estimated that one out of 10 species on earth are flies. Dr. Gaimari concludes his talk with the story of the Eurychoromyia mallea fly and a 100-year-old mystery.