Life Table Data: Field-based, partial life table data for immature stages of Bemisia tabaci on cotton in Maricopa, Arizona, USA. Data were generated on approximately 200 individual insects per cohort with 2-5 cohorts per year for a total of 44 cohorts between 1997 and 2010. Data provide the marginal, stage-specific rates of mortality for eggs, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th instar nymphs. Mortality is characterized as caused by inviability (eggs only), dislodgement, predation, parasitism and unknown. Detailed methods can be found in Naranjo and Ellsworth 2005 (Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 116(2): 93-108). The method takes advantage of the sessile nature of immature stages of this insect. Briefly, an observer follows individual eggs or settled first instar nymphs from natural populations on the underside of cotton leaves in the field with a hand lens and determines causes of death for each individual over time. Approximately 200 individual eggs and nymphs are observed for each cohort. Separately, densities of eggs and nymphs are monitored with standard methods (Naranjo and Flint 1994, Environmental Entomology 23: 254-266; Naranjo and Flint 1995, Environmental Entomology 24: 261-270) on a weekly basis. Matrix Model Data: Life table data were used to provide parameters for population matrix models. Matrix models contain information about stage-specific rates for development, survival and reproduction. The model can be used to estimate overall population growth rate and can also be analyzed to determine which life stages contribute the most to changes in growth rates.
Data from: Retrospective Analysis of a Classical Biological Control Program