Many Flowering Plants Coevolve with Specific Pollinators

question 24

Multiple Choice

Many flowering plants coevolve with specific pollinators. The Madagascar orchid has a 12-inch floral tube and is a reliable nectar source for the hawkmoth, which has a correspondingly long proboscis (tongue) . Which statement most accurately describes how coevolution might have occurred for the hawkmoth and Madagascar orchid?

• A) The hawkmoths that expended the most effort to reach the nectar would be the most fit, and pass the longer tongue phenotype to their offspring.
• B) Natural selection would favor orchids with nectar tubes just long enough to for an insect with pollen to make contact. Hawkmoths whose tongue could reach the deep tubes would be more fit.
• C) Hawkmoths whose tongue was just long enough to obtain nectar, but not able to pick up pollen would become the most fit in the population.
• D) It is most likely that mutations that resulted in both the length of the orchid floral tube and the length of the hawkmoth tongue occurred abruptly and simultaneously.

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