An Insect and a Flower Have a Highly Specific Pollination

question 154

Multiple Choice

An insect and a flower have a highly specific pollination interaction; that is, the two species depend closely on each other.The insect feeds almost exclusively on nectar and pollen from this flower, and the flower is only pollinated by this insect species or its close relatives.A severe and long-lasting drought greatly depletes the population of this flower species.What will most likely happen to the population of the insect species?

• A) It will increase; insects are mobile, so they can easily find food elsewhere.
• B) It will not change; the insects will move to other locations to find the plant species.
• C) It will not change; the insects will quickly find other food flowers in the same area.
• D) It will decrease; the insects will die from drought just as the plant species will.
• E) It will decrease; the insects depend on this flower and will lose their food source.