Measuring Cricket Populations

Measuring Cricket Populations
Capture-Recapture Lab
In this lab, we will be using a common technique to estimate the population of
crickets in a controlled environment. The controlled environment is the terrarium
holding the numerous insects and the technique we will use is known as the capture-
recapture method. You will work in groups of 3 students for this exercise and at least one
of you will need to be comfortable catching and holding a cricket without hurting or
maiming it. The second group member will be responsible for carefully marking the
thorax of the cricket with a paint pen (this takes a steady hand). Member #3 is the data
logger and will record the group information as well as offer emotional support when
needed.
The method we are using to estimate the population size requires that we make a
few assumptions. They are:
1. The population is ‘closed’- no migration, births, or deaths occur during the
experiment.
2. The marks or tags are not lost or overlooked by observers.
3. All animals are equally likely to be caught during both capture sessions. In other
words, the marks don’t hurt, kill, or prevent the animals from acting normally.
Using these assumptions, we will use a mathematical model (known as the Lincoln-
Peterson model) to calculate the population size. There are only three numbers we need
in order to use this model and they are fairly easy to collect. The first number we get by
capturing a sample of the overall population of the animals we want to study. That is
denoted with ‘n1’. Each of these animals is marked or tagged so that it can be identified
at a later time if re-captured. At a later time, we will capture another sample of the same
general population and count the number of animals caught. This time however, we will
note how many of the re-captured animals carry the marks or tags from the first capture
and how many animals were re-captured in total. These numbers are ‘m2’ and ‘n2’
respectively.
In Summary:
• n1 = # animals marked and released during the first capture.
• n2 = # of animals captured during the second capture (total)
• m2 = # of animals captured during second capture that bear marks from
the first session.
• N = the estimate of total population size
By comparing the proportions of these marked and unmarked animals, we can

estimate the population size using the following equation:
n1 m2
=
N n2
Simplifying the equation we get:
n *n
N= 1 2
m2
With these assumptions, we will attempt to measure the population size in the terrarium
using the following methods:
1. Carefully remove a piece of egg carton from the terrarium trying to disturb the
crickets as little as possible. Shake all of the crickets on the egg carton into
your Tupperware container and seal it without losing any crickets.
2. Take the Tupperware to your desk and mark ALL of the crickets in the
Tupperware.
a. To do this, have one group member carefully catch and hold one
cricket at a time while the second group member places a paint dot on
the thorax of the cricket. Your group will be using ________ color
paint.
b. Place the marked cricket in the second Tupperware container.
c. Repeat
3. When ALL of the crickets have been marked, return the Tupperware and egg
carton to the terrarium.
4. At this point we will have a brief discussion while the marked crickets
intermingle with their unmarked friends and neighbors.
5. After the discussion, you will go back to the terrarium and remove THE
SAME piece of egg carton from the terrarium and shake off the crickets into
the Tupperware a second time. At this point, there should be some marked
and some unmarked crickets in your Tupperware.
6. Take the Tupperware back to your table and count how many crickets you
have without any marks, with your color marks, and any other colored marks.
Record this information in your data sheet.
7. NOTE THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN m2 and M2.
n1 n2 m2 M2 n1 * n2 n1 * n2
N=
(your group color) (any color) m2
Group 1
Group 2
Group 3
Group 4
Group 5
Group 6
Group 7
TOTALS
Analysis:
1. Notice that you can calculate the population estimate using either your group’s
data alone or using the class’ data as a whole. Which value should you use for the
number of marked animals in each calculation and why? M or m?
2. Explain why one of the estimates is more reliable than the other.
3. Explain what would happen to your estimate if several of the animals died or
migrated out of the area between captures?
4. Explain what would happen to your estimate if the marks or tags fell off the
animals before they were recaptured?

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By comparing the proportions of these marked and unmarked animals, we can

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