The Following Questions Refer to the Description Below

question 14

Multiple Choice

The following questions refer to the description below.
You have read that soapberry bugs, Jadera haematoloma, adapt to available food sources. For example, in southern Florida, soapberry bugs feed on seeds of a native plant, the balloon vine. In central Florida, the balloon vine is rare and soapberry bugs have switched to eating seeds of an introduced species, the goldenrain tree. The seeds of the goldenrain tree fruits are much closer to the fruit surface than the seeds of the native balloon vine fruit. As a result, natural selection results in beaks that are shorter in soapberry bugs that utilize goldenrain tree fruits than those that feed on balloon vine fruit seeds.
-If soapberry bug populations become isolated by habitat preference/use, which of the following outcomes is most likely to occur?

• A)Variation in beak size of soapberry bugs will decrease.
• B)Soapberry bugs with intermediate beak lengths will die off quickly.
• C)Over time, reduced gene flow between the two populations may lead to formation of separate species.
• D)If the introduced goldenrain tree outcompetes the native balloon vine, soapberry bugs will show a decrease in variation in beak lengths.
• E)Two of the above statements are correct.

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Definitions:

Socially Optimal

A condition or outcome that is most efficient and beneficial for society as a whole, often considered in economic policies and strategies.

Tobacco Industry

A sector comprising companies that grow, manufacture, and sell tobacco products.

Equilibrium Price

The market price at which the quantity of goods supplied equals the quantity of goods demanded, leading to market stability.

Positive Externality

A benefit enjoyed by a third-party as a result of an economic transaction they are not directly involved in.