Insect Adaptations

Question 1

In a field of wildflowers, a new plant releases a strong chemical that kills most ladybugs, but a few ladybugs happen to be born with a slightly tougher outer coating that lets them survive. After many seasons, most ladybugs in that field have the tougher coating. Which statement best explains how this change occurred?

Accepted Answer

Ladybugs with the tougher coating survived, reproduced, and over many generations more ladybugs were born with the tougher coating.

Answer

The chemical caused the ladybugs’ bodies to change instantly.

Answer

The surviving ladybugs grew the tougher coating during their own lives.

Answer

The ladybugs learned from each other how to make a tougher coating.

Question 2

In Willowbrook a woodlot’s trees were painted bright white to stop a beetle outbreak. Before the painting most peppered moths there were dark‑colored because the bark was dark from lichens. After the trees became white, which statement best explains why the moth population shifted over several generations?

Accepted Answer

Moths that were light‑colored blended in with the white bark, were eaten less by birds, and left more offspring, so light moths became common.

Answer

Dark moths stopped laying eggs because they disliked the white color of the trees.

Answer

The dark moths could not breathe the paint fumes, so they died quickly.

Answer

The paint transferred onto the wings of all moths, turning them white instantly.

Question 3

In Brookfield, runoff has turned the pond water brown and cloudy. A water‑surface beetle that used to be bright green, which helped it hide among clear water plants, is now mostly brownish, and the green beetles are rarely seen. Which explanation best shows why the beetle population’s colour changed?

Accepted Answer

Beetles that were born with a brownish tint were harder for fish predators to spot in the murky water, so they survived longer and had more babies; after many generations the brown colour became common.

Answer

Each beetle learns to turn brown whenever it detects that the water is dirty, so the same beetle changes its colour during its life.

Answer

The beetles’ outer shell wears away with age, revealing a brown layer underneath, so older beetles appear brown.

Answer

Because the beetles ate brown algae, their bodies turned brown and they passed this colour directly to their offspring.

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