title: A continuous, age-structured insect population model.
abstract: A continuous age-structured model of cannibalistic insect populations is constructed and analyzed. The model is a continuous analog of the model used in the recent work of Costantino et al. in which discrete modeling, mathematical analysis, statistical techniques, and laboratory experiments were used to demonstrate the presence of nonlinear dynamics, including chaos, in laboratory Tribolium cultures. A special case of the continuous model (no larva-on-egg cannibalism) is analyzed and the results are compared to the analogous special case of the discrete model.
authors.affiliation: Department of Mathematics, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA. henson@math.arizona.edu
authors.forename: S M
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Henson
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D002190:Cannibalism; D007814:Larva / Q000254:growth & development; D016014:Linear Models; D008954:Models, Biological; D009716:Numerical Analysis, Computer-Assisted; D011157:Population Dynamics; D011679:Pupa / Q000254:growth & development; D014231:Tribolium / Q000254:growth & development*