A model describing the predator-prey interaction between Scolothrips longicornis and Tetranychus cinnabarinus based upon the Leslie theory

Abstract

In this paper the authors develop a model which describes the predator-prey system of Scolothrips longicornis and Tetranychus cinnabarinus. It is based upon two Leslie processes, one for each population. The elements of the Leslie matrices, the survival and fertility rates, are estimated with statistical methods. The survival rates are expressed in terms of life-time distributions and the fertility rates are parametrized as a function of age. The advantage of this method lies in the reduction of the large number of primary parameters to a few secondary ones. It is then possible to formulate the influence of the predator-prey interaction on the elements of the population projection matrices by simply modelling the influence on the parameters of the functions describing the time course of these elements. Thus a complex description is reduced to an easily comprehensible and applicable one.

The model is supposed to answer questions that are important for the application of biological control of Tetranychus cinnabarinus by Scolothrips longicornis: How many individuals of Scolothrips longicornis are to be applied, and what is the appropriate date for application?