Data files for manuscript titled "Importance of color for artificial clay caterpillars as sentinel prey in maize, soybean, and prairie". Metadata is contained within excel file that describes all variables for each tab. Abstract from paper: The use of artificial clay caterpillars to measure predation pressure under real field conditions is one method that has garnered recent support for quantifying ecosystem services that beneficial insects provide. Here, we focus on color and ask whether it is an important variable that should be considered in studies using clay caterpillars as sentinel prey. We deployed a total of 1920 brown, cream, green, gray, terracotta, and white clay caterpillars onto maize, soybean, and prairie plants to test if lighter colored caterpillars will be attacked and retrieved more than caterpillars with darker colors. As hypothesized, color was a significant predictor with green and terracotta caterpillars performing best, whereas brown and gray caterpillars performed the worst. Interestingly, clay caterpillars were also attacked proportionally to the number of insects in the surrounding habitat. Combined, we suggest artificial clay caterpillars could be useful for rapid ecosystem function assessments, but only when their color is considered.

Life Table Data: Field-based, partial life table data for immature stages of Bemisia tabaci on cotton in Maricopa, Arizona, USA. Data were generated on approximately 200 individual insects per cohort with 2-5 cohorts per year for a total of 44 cohorts between 1997 and 2010. Data provide the marginal, stage-specific rates of mortality for eggs, and 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th instar nymphs. Mortality is characterized as caused by inviability (eggs only), dislodgement, predation, parasitism and unknown. Detailed methods can be found in Naranjo and Ellsworth 2005 (Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata 116(2): 93-108). The method takes advantage of the sessile nature of immature stages of this insect. Briefly, an observer follows individual eggs or settled first instar nymphs from natural populations on the underside of cotton leaves in the field with a hand lens and determines causes of death for each individual over time. Approximately 200 individual eggs and nymphs are observed for each cohort. Separately, densities of eggs and nymphs are monitored with standard methods (Naranjo and Flint 1994, Environmental Entomology 23: 254-266; Naranjo and Flint 1995, Environmental Entomology 24: 261-270) on a weekly basis. Matrix Model Data: Life table data were used to provide parameters for population matrix models. Matrix models contain information about stage-specific rates for development, survival and reproduction. The model can be used to estimate overall population growth rate and can also be analyzed to determine which life stages contribute the most to changes in growth rates.