Summary

The value of basic science in insect biology is no more evident than when a crisis arises involving a devastating insect pest like the New World screwworm, says University of Illinois entomology professor May Berenbaum. In a 2016 essay in the journal Science , Berenbaum wrote about the successful—if temporary—eradication of the pest in many parts of the world. Here she answers common questions about the screwworm's return. Cochliomyia hominivorax is a parasitic fly, the maggots of which consume the flesh of living warm-blooded hosts, including mammals and sometimes birds.

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