Francisco J. Beitia was graduated in biology at the University of Valencia (Spain) in 1980. He started his work in agricultural research at the Instituto Valenciano de Investigaciones Agrarias (IVIA, Valencia, Spain), obtaining his PhD degree at the University of Valencia in 1987, working on the study and control of the citrus red mite, Panonychus citri. He has worked at the Station de Zoologie et de Lutte Biologique of INRA in Antibes (France) (1987-88), the IVIA (1988-91), the Instituto Nacional de Investigación y Tecnología Agraria y Alimentaria (INIA) in Madrid (Spain) (1992-2001), and finally again at the IVIA (since 2001 to present days) as a research professor. His current research work is focusing on citrus pests and their biological control (mainly the medfly and its parasitoids), the development of integrated pest management in persimmon, and recently the study of insect vectors of Xylella fastidiosa and its control.