Larval densities and a life‐table for the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar, estimated using the head‐capsule collection method

. 1. In order to estimate the absolute larval density in each stage of a larval population of the gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar L., in a deciduous forest in northern Japan, the head-capsule collection method was used. An estimate by this method was compared with estimates based on two kinds of frass collection methods. 2. Twenty-one traps made of cloth were put in a study plot. Each trap was of 24.5 cm diameter. Larval head-capsules falling into the traps were collected and sorted by hand. On the first sampling occasion, the population was also estimated using the frass-collection method. 3. Larval numbers estimated by the head-capsule collection method were almost identical to estimates by the two frass methods. Larval numbers entering the four larval instar were successfully estimated by the head-capsule collection method, and an age-specific life table was established using the resultant estimates.