Beetle pollinators of a particular plant are attracted to its flowers' bright orange color. The beetles not only pollinate the f
lowers but mate while inside of the flowers. A mutant version of the plant with red flowers becomes more common with the passage of time. A particular variant of the beetle prefers the red flowers to the orange flowers. Over time, these two beetle variants diverge from each other to such an extent that interbreeding is no longer possible. What kind of speciation has occurred in this example, and what has driven it? A. Allopatric speciation, ecological isolation.
B. Sympatric speciation, habitat differentiation.
C. Allopatric speciation, behavioral isolation.
D. Sympatric speciation, sexual selection.
E. Sympatric speciation, allopolyploidy.
The right answer to our question is B, Sympatric speciation, habitat differentiation.
Edward Bagnall Poulton derived the term sympatric speciation in 1904. It is a mode of speciation, which entails new species emerging from an ancestral species that is still alive and extant. Both the emerging and ancestral species will exist in the same zone.
This speciation is found more in plants. There are different types of these speciations. Habitat differentiation is seen within sympatric speciation. It is found when mutations that exist in the same zone can make use of varying conditions. Allopatric speciation and parapatric speciation are the other types of speciation.
