Insects

Hide introduction Introduction This page contains a JavaScript that simulates the development of pesticide resistance in an insect. When an insect population gets repeatedly sprayed with a pesticide, the population develops pesticide resistance. I made a simulation model for this. Below you will find the script and you can play around with different settings. But […]

Hide introduction Introduction This page contains a JavaScript that simulates Peppered moth evolution. The Peppered moth (Biston betularia) is known for having a darker appearance in areas with industrial pollution where tree bark is darker because of soot. In a cleaner environment, with lighter colored tree bark, the moths have a lighter appearance. Bird predation

Backswimmers Backswimmers are true bugs that belong to the family Notonectidae. As the name suggests, they swim upside down. Bagworm moths Bagworm moths are moths belonging to the family Psychidae. They arae also called bagworms or bagmoths. The caterpillars of these moths build a protective “bag” in which they can hide. Balloon flies Balloon flies

Acorn weevils Acorn weevils or nut weevils are insects that infest the seeds of trees such as oaks. They are beetles belonging to the family Curculionidae, which are the snout beetles. Admirals Admirals are butterflies belonging to the genus Limenitis. Alderflies Alderflies are megalopteran insects of the family Sialidae. Alfalfa weevil The Alfalfa weevil is

This page contains a computer simulation model for insect population studies. In the form below you can enter sets of data that are used in the simulation. Initially the form will show default values, which can be replaced by your own values. For most parameters you can enter a low and a high value (see

Simulation 2: A reproduction factor based on birth and mortality The size of an insect population fluctuates from day to day. Every day some new insects are born and every day some insects die. We have already seen that the population size for one generation depends on the size of the previous generation, and that

Simulation 3: Limiting population growth In simulation 2 we started using a reproduction factor (r) which depends on birth (b) and mortality (m) factors. But we have also seen that when birth and mortality are fixed values the simulation is not realistic. The population either explodes (r is positive) or it dies out (r is

Simulation 4: Simulating the use of pesticide to control an insect population We have already a model to simulate the development of an insect pest population (see Simulation 3). Now let’s see how we can simulate what happens if a farmer sprays pesticides to control the pest. We will have to decide when to spray,

Simulation 5: Simulating the use of pesticide at a threshold level The calendar spraying we saw in simulation 4 is simple, but it is not a good farming practice because the farmer would spray even when population densities are very low. It makes more sense to spray only when it is needed to keep the

Simulation 6: Introducing biological pest control: a predator In simulations 4 and 5 we have seen how to keep a pest population under a certain level by repeated pesticide applications. We will now see that pest populations can also be controlled by introducing natural enemies of the pest, for example spiders or egg parasitoids. When