In a tropical forest, some leaves are dark green, and some are light green. In a population of caterpillars, homozygous dominant dark green caterpillars thrive eating the dark green foliage, while homozygous recessive light green caterpillars thrive eating light green foliage. However, heterozygous caterpillars of an intermediate color green are easily seen by birds and eaten, thus their numbers are far less than the dominants or recessives. This is an example of ____ selection.
A) directional
B) stabilizing
C) disruptive
D) frequent
E) mutational

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Disruptive selection is illustrated here, where extreme traits (dark green and light green caterpillars) are favored over the intermediate trait, leading to a decrease in the population of heterozygous, intermediate-colored caterpillars.

In a Tropical Forest, Some Leaves Are Dark Green, and Some