Summary
A marking-and-recapture study of a population of overwintered adults ofEpilachna sparsa orientalis was carried out in a small farm containing potatoes and egg-plants. The experiment involved a single release and five recapture samplings during May–June. The data were analysed byLeslie's re-recapture method. Assumption of randomness of sampling proved to be well satisfied.
Survival rate of the overwintered adult population was maintained as high as 90 per cent per week or more until early June, and then it declined rapidly towards the end of June. Initially overwintered adults exclusively lived on potato plants, but half of the population alive in mid June migrated to nearby egg-plants. Emigration out of the experimental field, however, seemed not to be occurring.
Recapture data of marked individuals in the potato field indicate that majority of the individuals stayed within a radius of 3 m, at least for 2 weeks. Similar data taken from another field also suggest that their mobility was far restricted as compared with random movement within the field.
Some comparisons were made between the population behaviours of overwintered adults ofE. sparsa orientalis andE. vigintioctomaculata.
Article PDF
Similar content being viewed by others
Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.
References
Bailey, N. T. J. (1951) On estimating the size of mobile population from recapture data.Biometrika 38: 293–306
Iwao, S. (1954) On the distribution ofEpilachna sparsa orientalis Dieke andE. vigintioctomaculata Motschulsky at the boundary of their geographical distributions, I.Ōyō-Kontyū 9: 135–141. (In Japanese with English summary).
Iwao, S. (1963) On a method for estimating the rate of population interchange between two areas.Res. Popul. Ecol. 5: 44–50.
Iwao, S. et al. (1963) Studies on a natural population of the large 28-spotted lady beetle,Epilachna vigintioctomaculata Motschulsky. I. Preliminary analysis of the overwintered adult population by means of the marking-and-recapture method.Jap. J. Ecol. 13: 109–117.
Leslie, P. H. (1952) The estimation of population parameters from data obtained by means of the capture-recapture method. II. The estimation of total numbers.Biometrika 39: 363–388.
Leslie P. H., D. Chitty andH. Chitty (1953) Ditto III. An example of the practical applications of the method.Biometrika 40: 137–169.
Morisita, M. (1950) Dispersal and population density of a waterstrider,Gerris lacustris L.Contrib. Physiol. Ecol. Coll. Sci., Kyoto Univ. 65: 1–149. (In Japanese).
Takahashi, S. (1932) Studies onEpilachna lady beetle in Japan.J. Tokyo Agric. Coll. 3: 1–115.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Contribution from the Entomological Laboratory, Kyoto University, No. 371.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Iwao, S., Machida, A. A marking-and-recapture analysis of the adult population of a phytophagous lady-beetle,Epilachna sparsa orientalis . Res Popul Ecol 5, 107–116 (1963). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518835
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02518835