This passage describes how the inherited trait of body coloring can affect a pygmy
grasshopper's survival and reproduction.
A pygmy grasshopper may have brown coloring
or black coloring. Each coloring makes
grasshoppers harder for predators to see on a
certain type of ground. A grasshopper with
brown coloring is harder to see on ground
covered in brown dirt or twigs. A grasshopper
with black coloring is harder to see on ground
covered in black soot from a forest fire.
a pygmy grasshopper with brown
coloring
Consider the population of pygmy grasshoppers over the time period previously shown. Over
this time period, grasshoppers with brown coloring were less likely to survive and reproduce
than grasshoppers with black coloring. This means that having brown coloring was less
advantageous than having black coloring.
Complete the following statements to construct the explanation that is best supported by the
information above.
Having brown coloring may have been less advantageous than having black coloring
because grasshoppers with brown coloring were
This may have been because the population's environment had
with soot covering the ground.
for predators to see.
areas