Question

What were Futuyma and colleagues' two hypotheses to explain why leaf beetles have not colonized all possible species of host plants? What did the researchers do to test the hypotheses? How do their results illuminate the general question of whether all traits in all organisms are adaptive?

Answer 1

Futuyma and colleagues hypothesized that leaf beetles have not colonized all plant species due to unencountered species or unsuitability of certain plants, possibly related to genetic factors and non-adaptive traits. They would test this through studies on beetle-plant interactions and adaptation. Their research sheds light on the adaptiveness of traits in the evolutionary process.

Step-by-step explanation:

Futuyma and colleagues formulated two hypotheses to explain why leaf beetles have not colonized all possible species of host plants. The first hypothesis posits that beetles have not yet encountered all plant species, thus missing the opportunity to colonize them - an idea related to the role of "habitat islands". The second hypothesis suggests that not all plant species are suitable hosts, potentially due to various plant traits making them unsuitable or the beetles lacking the necessary genetic make-up for successful colonization.