James R. Carey, UC Davis distinguished professor of entomology, will speak Thursday, May 9 at the Walter A. Buehler Alumni Center on “What Can Insect Studies Tell Us about Longevity and Aging? Lots!”

His talk, hosted by the UC Davis Emeriti Association, begins at 11:30. The Alumni Center is located at 530 Alumni Lane. Among the topics he will cover:

• Are there lifespan limits?
• Evolution of lifespan extremes
• Male-female longevity differences
• Evolutionary demography of humans as informed by insect studies
• Three raging controversies in the demography of aging and lifespan in humans

Jeanne Calment of France (1875-1997), who died at age 122 (and 164 days), holds the record of the longest confirmed human lifespan.

An internationally recognized leader and distinguished scholar in insect demography and invasion biology, spanning three decades, Carey also researches health demography, biology of aging, and lifespan theory. He is the author of a landmark study published in the journal Science in 1992 that showed mortality of Mediterranean fruit flies (medflies) slows at older ages. Scientists last year confirmed that this also occurs in humans, citing the study of 105-year-old Italian women.

Carey, who joined the UC Davis Department of Entomology (now Entomology and Nematology) in 1980, directed an 11-university, $10 million, 10-year study on biodemography of aging from 2003-2013. He is also known for discovering Carey's Equality or the death distribution in a life table population equals its age structure. He teaches a popular longevity course that draws 250 to 300 students year, and recently authored a book on biodemography, to be published by Princeton University next year.

Carey drew a large crowd for his Science Café presentation Oct.10 on "Are There Upper Limits to Human Lifespan?” in the G St. Wunderbar, Davis.