Biology

Davion Garrett

5 February, 04:43

The fringed rue plant produces oils that act as a natural insect repellent. The old-world swallowtail caterpillar lives on and eats the rue, having developed a resistance to the plant's poisonous oils. This allows the swallowtail to avoid competition with other insects. If the rue plant started producing more poisonous oils, what would most likely happen to future generations of swallowtail?

A) The swallowtail will become extinct through background extinction.

B) The rue will become extinct through mass extinction.

C) The swallowtail will experience divergent evolution and split into two species.

D) The swallowtail will develop a stronger resistance to the oils in the rue.