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The effectiveness of a new insecticide was tested on a large population of mosquitoes over a number of breeding cycles - HSC - SSCE Biology - Question 13 - 2007 - Paper 1
Question 13
The effectiveness of a new insecticide was tested on a large population of mosquitoes over a number of breeding cycles. At first the population of mosquitoes was red... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:The effectiveness of a new insecticide was tested on a large population of mosquitoes over a number of breeding cycles - HSC - SSCE Biology - Question 13 - 2007 - Paper 1
Step 1
Some of the original population were resistant to the insecticide and passed this on to their offspring.
Answer
The Darwin/Wallace theory of evolution emphasizes the importance of natural selection. In this case, some mosquitoes in the original population must have had genetic variations that made them resistant to the insecticide. When the insecticide was applied, these resistant mosquitoes survived and reproduced, passing their resistant traits to their offspring. Over successive breeding cycles, the population would contain a higher proportion of these resistant individuals, leading to an increase in the overall population even in the presence of the insecticide.