An indirect estimate of consumable food and probability of
acquiring food in a blowfly species, Chrysomya putoria,
is presented. This alternative procedure combines three
distinct models to estimate consumable food in the context of
the exploitative competition experienced by immature
individuals in blowfly populations. The relevant parameters
are derived from data for pupal weight and survival and
estimates of density-independent larval mortality in twenty
different larval densities. As part of this procedure, the
probability of acquiring food per unit of time and the time
taken to exhaust the food supply are also calculated. The
procedure employed here may be valuable for estimations in
insects whose immature stages develop inside the food
substrate, where it is difficult to partial out confounding
effects such as separation of faeces. This procedure also has
the advantage of taking into account the population dynamics
of immatures living under crowded conditions, which are
particularly characteristic of blowflies and other insects as
well.
