Some butterflies can ingest toxic chemicals from the milkweed plants they feed on and then canstore those chemicals in their body. Because toxins stored in the butterflies are toxic to birds, thebirds avoid eating the butterflies. Which of the following is the best explanation for this situation?

A) Any butterfly allele that allowed milkweed toxin storage would be likely to persist becausebutterflies that had it were more likely to survive.

B) Butterflies developed a mutation that led them to be able to store the chemical because theyneeded to avoid being eaten.

C) Milkweed plants wanted the butterflies to ingest the chemical so they would no longer feedon the plant, but the butterflies fooled the milkweed by storing the toxic chemicals.

D) Butterflies that stored the chemicals were never eaten by predators, so those butterfliessurvived.

Question

Biology

Hill

16 December, 03:28

Some butterflies can ingest toxic chemicals from the milkweed plants they feed on and then canstore those chemicals in their body. Because toxins stored in the butterflies are toxic to birds, thebirds avoid eating the butterflies. Which of the following is the best explanation for this situation?

A) Any butterfly allele that allowed milkweed toxin storage would be likely to persist becausebutterflies that had it were more likely to survive.

B) Butterflies developed a mutation that led them to be able to store the chemical because theyneeded to avoid being eaten.

C) Milkweed plants wanted the butterflies to ingest the chemical so they would no longer feedon the plant, but the butterflies fooled the milkweed by storing the toxic chemicals.

D) Butterflies that stored the chemicals were never eaten by predators, so those butterfliessurvived.

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Answers (1)

Know the Answer?

Aydin Parsons · Answer 1

A) Any butterfly allele that allowed milkweed toxin storage would be likely to persist because butterflies that had it were more likely to survive.

Explanation:

Butterflies are natural preys to birds. Over time, some butterflies evolved adaptive strategy such as developing an allele which enables storage of toxin from milkweed as a form of defense mechanism. This stored toxins repel birds from eating the butterflies having this allele giving rise to the survival of these butterflies overtime. Butterflies that had it are likely to be highly favored for survival against predatory birds, while those butterflies without this allele are likely to be heavily preyed upon by birds.