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Intra-specific competition and insect larval development: a model with time-dependent delay

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  30 January 2017

Stephen A. Gourley
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics, University of Surrey, Guildford GU2 7XH, UK ([email protected])
Rongsong Liu
Affiliation:
Department of Mathematics and Department of Zoology and Physiology, University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY 82071, USA
Yijun Lou
Affiliation:
Department of Applied Mathematics, Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong

Extract

We derive a stage-structured model for an insect population in which a larva matures on reaching a certain size, and in which there is intra-specific competition among larvae that hinders their development, thereby prolonging the larval phase. The model, a system of delay differential equations for the total numbers of adults and larvae, assumes two forms. One of these is a system with a variable state-dependent time delay determined by a threshold condition, the other has constant and distributed delays, a size-like independent variable replacing time t, and no threshold condition. We prove theorems on boundedness and on the linear stability of equilibria.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © Royal Society of Edinburgh 2017 

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