Answer:
It is impossible to determine the dominant allele frequency from the given information.
Explanation:
There are two equations necessary to solve a Hardy-Weinberg Equilibrium question:
+ = 1
² + 2 + ² = 1
is the frequency of the dominant allele.
is the frequency of the recessive allele.
² is the frequency of individuals with the homozygous dominant genotype.
2 is the frequency of individuals with the heterozygous genotype.
² is the frequency of individuals with the homozygous recessive genotype.
Now, from the question; it says that "A population of beetles exists in which black coloration is dominant to white":
Let B = the black allele &
b = the white allele.
If there are 64 black bettles in the population, i.e the heterozygous allele B which is :
² + 2(64) + ² = 1
; what is the dominant allele frequency i.e (²)...???
We can deduce from the above that the question only tells the number of black beetles, but does not give any information that would allow us to find the total number of beetles in the population.
Also, we do not have the homozygous recessive population or the distribution of heterozygotes and homozygous dominant beetles. Given information on the number of white beetles would allow us to calculate the recessive allele frequency, and subsequently the dominant allele frequency.
BUT, those informations were not given in the question, as such this question is invalid.
