Question

Imagine you are standing in a field and you see a group of butterflies. You notice an individual that looks significantly different from the other butterflies in the population. It has much larger wings and can fly faster than the other butterflies. This difference allows the butterfly to escape predation more efficiently than other butterflies in the population. The difference came about because this butterfly spent more time developing in an area of the habitat that is particularly warm and moist and had more food available than other areas. Do you expect the following generations to be composed of butterflies with larger wings?A. Yes, this represents a genetic mutation that will be passed onto offspring.

B. No, this represents heritable variation but this trait does not increase ability to mate so will not be passed to the next generation.
C. Yes, this trait is advantageous so more butterflies will choose to develop in warm moist areas of the habitat.
D. No, this represents nonheritable variation caused by the environment.

Answer 1

D

Step-by-step explanation:

The correct answer should be no, because the variation displayed by the butterfly is due to the environment and not due to genetics.

Variations can be caused by the environment where organisms inhabit or by genes in the system of the organism. Variations that are due to the environment cannot be passed on to the next generation while those that are due to genes can be inherited by subsequent generations.

The variation observed in the significantly different butterfly as shown in the illustration is due to the fact that it spent time developing in an area of the habitat that is warm, moist, and has more food available when compared to other areas. The variation is, therefore, due to the environment only and not genetics.

The correct option is D.