Question

An isolated population of great purple hairstreaks, a species of butterfly, lives in a damp meadow. The larvae feed only on a species of mountain clover plant that lives in the meadow. The adult does not fly far from the clover plants as well. One rainy summer, a fungus causes most of the clover plants to die.
As a result of the absence of clover, the hairstreak population in this location will MOST LIKELY

Answer 1

Answer:

i not know the answer

Explanation:

Answer 2

The correct answer is stated below:

Explanation:

• It is stated that the population of butterfly is isolated, hence it is able to undergoing only intra-population mating. As no other population of butterfly is available nearby so inter-population mating is not possible.
• The question states that the larvae of the species feed on only mountain clover plant, and no other food. Hence, it has a highly specific diet, and absence of the specific food can cause them to perish.
• Also, they do not go far away from their habitat, hence chances that they would be able to find another place where mountain clover plant is growing is low.
• Also fungal infection kills most of the clover plants. The only food for the butterfly becomes almost unavailable in that region.
• Therefore, there is high chance that the great purple hairstreaks butterfly population would become extinct, that is, they would perish in absence of their required food, the mountain clover.
• However, this can be prevented if some of the individuals of the population develop the capability of altering its diet (choose some other plant as a source of their food) by means of natural selection.