A comparison of methods for the analysis of insect stage-frequency data

An electronic computer has been used to simulate the development and sampling of a number of insect populations containing individuals passing through stages (instar I, instar II, etc.). This was done in order to compare five methods for analysing sample stage-frequency data (Richards and Waloff, 1954; Richards et al., 1960; Dempster, 1961; Kiritani and Nakasuji, 1967; Manly, 1974a) under a variety of conditions. The simulation results suggest (i) that the method of Kiritani and Nakasuji should be used to estimate stage-specific survival rates whenever populations are sampled at equal intervals of time until almost all insects are dead, and (ii) that the method of Manly should be used if the sample times do not permit the use of Kiritani and Nakasuji's method or if it is desired to estimate the actual number of insects entering stages.