Biologists captured and marked 100 butterflies. Later they captured 115 butterflies, 5 of which were marked. The population estimate is 2000 butterflies.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

This is a capture-recapture scenario where the proportion of marked individuals in the second capture can be used to estimate the total population size. The formula for this is:
total population size = (number of individuals in first capture x number of individuals in second capture) / number of marked individuals in second capture
Using the numbers given in the problem, we have:
total population size = (100 x 115) / 5 = 2300
Therefore, the population estimate of 2000 is incorrect and the answer is B (False).

Biologists Captured and Marked 100 Butterflies