This passage describes how the inherited trait of body coloring can affect a pygmy

grasshopper's survival and reproduction.

A pygmy grasshopper may have brown coloring

or black coloring. Each coloring makes

grasshoppers harder for predators to see on a

certain type of ground. A grasshopper with

brown coloring is harder to see on ground

covered in brown dirt or twigs. A grasshopper

with black coloring is harder to see on ground

covered in black soot from a forest fire.

a pygmy grasshopper with brown

coloring

Consider the population of pygmy grasshoppers over the time period previously shown. Over

this time period, grasshoppers with brown coloring were less likely to survive and reproduce

than grasshoppers with black coloring. This means that having brown coloring was less

advantageous than having black coloring.

Complete the following statements to construct the explanation that is best supported by the

information above.

Having brown coloring may have been less advantageous than having black coloring

because grasshoppers with brown coloring were

This may have been because the population's environment had

with soot covering the ground.

for predators to see.

areas