"The Ant, Butterfly, and the Oregano Plant"

Question

by Nsikan Akpan

Large Blue caterpillars only gain 1 to 2 percent of their body weight by nibbling on the oregano leaves during the early stages of life. The overwhelming majority of their sustenance — 98 to99 percent — comes from eating ants. But if butterfly larvae tried to trick the wrong patsies —non-Myrmica ants — they’d likely get eaten. Guessing right is a matter of life and death, and especially important given the Large Blue Butterfly has relatively few eggs and is endangered.

From an evolutionary perspective, Thomas and Barbero say that the Large Blue butterflies gained an advantage by using scents to glean which oregano plants are fighting off Myrmica invasions. At the same time, the plant only loses a small, non-lethal amount of its leaves to the caterpillar. And though Myrmica might lose individual battles to the butterflies, the ants are invasive enough that their total populations aren’t at risk of being harmed by the butterflies.

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A)
Use the passage from “The Aunt, the Butterfly, and Their Chemical Warfare With the Oregano Plan” by Nsikan Akpan to answer the question.

Connection: Large Blue caterpillars do not pose a significant threat to the oregano plant.

Which piece of evidence from the passage supports this connection? Select the two correct answers.

(1 point)
Responses

"And though Myrmica might lose individual battles to the butterflies, the ants are invasive enough that their total populations aren’t at risk of being harmed by the butterflies."
"And though Myrmica might lose individual battles to the butterflies, the ants are invasive enough that their total populations aren’t at risk of being harmed by the butterflies."

"The overwhelming majority of their sustenance—98 to 99 percent—comes from eating ants."
"The overwhelming majority of their sustenance—98 to 99 percent—comes from eating ants."

"Large Blue caterpillars only gain 1 to 2 percent of their body weight by nibbling on the oregano leaves during the early stages of life."
"Large Blue caterpillars only gain 1 to 2 percent of their body weight by nibbling on the oregano leaves during the early stages of life."

"From an evolutionary perspective, Thomas and Barbero say that the Large Blue butterflies gained an advantage by using scents to glean which oregano plants are fighting off Myrmica invasions."
"From an evolutionary perspective, Thomas and Barbero say that the Large Blue butterflies gained an advantage by using scents to glean which oregano plants are fighting off Myrmica invasions."

"But if butterfly larvae tried to trick the wrong patsies—non-Mymirca ants—they’d likely get eaten."
"But if butterfly larvae tried to trick the wrong patsies—non-Mymirca ants—they’d likely get eaten."

Answer 1

To support the connection that "Large Blue caterpillars do not pose a significant threat to the oregano plant," the two correct pieces of evidence from the passage are:

1. "Large Blue caterpillars only gain 1 to 2 percent of their body weight by nibbling on the oregano leaves during the early stages of life."
2. "And though Myrmica might lose individual battles to the butterflies, the ants are invasive enough that their total populations aren’t at risk of being harmed by the butterflies."

These statements demonstrate that the damage done to the oregano plant by the caterpillars is minimal and not detrimental to the overall health of the plant or the ant population.