WHAT DEMOGRAPHERS CAN LEARN FORM FRUIT-FLY ACTUARIAL MODELS AND BIOLOGY

Historically demographers have viewed the results of actuarial studies of nonhuman species, particularly those on invertebrates such as frui t flies, as largely irrelevant to investigations on human populations. In this paper I present life table data from large seals studies on t he Mediterranean fruit fly, and show that they provide important insig hts into fundamental aspects of mortality relevant to human population s, the trajectory of mortality at older ages, sex mortality differenti als, the concept of maximal life span, and demographic heterogeneity a nd selection. An overriding theme of the paper is the need for demogra phers to acquire a heightened awareness of new developments in biology including areas such as evolutionary ecology, experimental demography , and molecular medicine.