Design of a Sampling Plan for Studies on the Population Dynamics of the Imported Cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.) (Lepidoptera: Pieridae)

Abstract

In 1958, intensive studies on the population dynamics of the imported cabbageworm, Pieris rapae (L.), on cabbage were initiated in long-term study plots at Merivale, Ontario. The object was to construct ecological life tables for successive generations of the species, and ultimately, to develop mathematical models describing survival of field populations. This paper reports on the variation between samples of immature stages of the insect, and between some of the mortality factors affecting its abundance; it further illustrates the use of these data in designing a sampling plan with acceptable limits of precision.