The following question is based on information from Frank M. Frey, "Opposing Natural Selection from Herbivores and Pathogens May Maintain Floral-Color Variation in Claytonia virginica (Portulacaceae)," Evolution 58(11), 2004: 2426-37.
Claytonia virginica is a woodland spring herb with flowers that vary from white to pale pink to bright pink. Slugs prefer to eat pink-flowering over white-flowering plants (due to chemical differences between the two), and plants experiencing severe herbivory are more likely to die. The bees that pollinate this plant also prefer pink to white flowers, so Claytonia with pink flowers have greater relative fruit set than Claytonia with white flowers. A researcher observes that the percentage of different flower colors remains stable in the study population from year to year. Given no other information, if the researcher removes all slugs from the study population, what do you expect to happen to the distribution of flower colors in the population over time?
A) The percentage of pink flowers should increase over time.
B) The percentage of white flowers should increase over time.
C) The distribution of flower colors should not change.
D) The distribution of flower colors should randomly fluctuate over time.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Since slugs prefer to eat pink-flowering plants and their removal would eliminate this selective pressure, pink flowers, which are preferred by bees for pollination, would likely increase in percentage due to higher pollination success and subsequent fruit set.

The Following Question Is Based on Information from Frank M