Question

What kind of speciation has occurred in this example, and what has driven it? Beetle pollinators of a particular plant are attracted to its flowers bright orange color. The beetles not only pollinate the flowers, but they mate while inside of the flowers. A mutant version of the plant with red flowers becomes more common with the passage of time. A particular variant of the beetle prefers the red flowers to the orange flowers. Over time, these two beetle variants diverge from each other to such an extent that interbreeding is no longer possible.

A. Allopatric speciation, ecological isolationB. Sympatric speciation, habitat differentiationC. Allopatric speciation, behavioral isolationD. Sympatric speciation, sexual selectionE. Sympatric speciation, allopolyploidy

Answer 1

B

Step-by-step explanation:

Allopatric speciation means the process happened because of a physical barrier while sympatric speciation means they diverged while being in the same region.

In this beetle example, divergence happens in the same geographical area. It is a sympatric speciation.

The mutant version of the plant becomes more common with the passage of time and one variant of beetle prefers it. Knowing that beetles not only pollinate the flowers but also mate inside them we can deduce there is an environmental barrier that over time makes them diverge. Individuals exploit different conditions from the same region.

Correct answer is B, sympatric speciation and the drive force is habitat differentiation.