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 isolation
B. Sympatric speciation, habitat differentiation
C. Allopatric speciation, behavioral isolation
D. Sympatric speciation, sexual selection
E. Sympatric speciation, allopolyploidy

Answer 1

B. Sympatric speciation, habitat differentiation

Step-by-step explanation:

In the given example, no geographical barrier has been operational to isolate the two populations of the beetles so as to prevent interbreeding between them. On the other hand, the two variants are present together while developing isolating reproductively from each other. Therefore, it represents sympatric speciation.

The two variants mate inside the flowers of different colors. Since their mating sites are different colored flowers, they are not able to interbreed. This represents habitat differentiation as the one variants of beetle reproduce inside orange the colored flowers while the other inside the red-colored flowers. They develop a tendency to reproduce inside the different habitats (a habitat is a region where an organism lives and reproduces).