17 A few years ago the population of male blue moon butterflies on the island of Samoa declined.
One hypothesis for the decline of the male butterflies is that a parasite infected the cells of
female butterflies. The parasite was passed to offspring through the females' eggs and killed
the male butterfly embryos. At one point during the decline, nearly all the butterflies in the
population were females, but'after five years the number of males in the population increased
significantly.
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Blue Moon Butterfly
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Which explanation most likely accounts for the Increase | the number of male butterflies in
the five years after the initial parasite problem?
A Male butterflies in the population that survived were able to prey on the parasites living in
the females' egg cells.
B
Female butterflies in the population that survived had a genetic adaptation that allowed
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them to transform into male butterflies.
c Male butterflies the population that survived had a gene that made hem resistant to
nature
the parasite, and they passed the gene on to their offspring.
D Female butterflies in the population that survived were able to protect the male eggs from
for the male offsorina.
