Methods of estimating cotton insect populations

Fixed plot, negative binomial, and sequential sampling methods were carried out on cotton in Brazos County during 1966 and 1967 in order to compare the efficiency of the various methods. Increasing size and number of samples taken was found to result in better population estimates. Negative binomial sampling resulted in a smaller variance than did fixed plot sampling. Sequential sampling was especially useful when insect populations were either very high or very low. Making accurate population estimates was found to be different when insect populations were low