Reference no: EM133935194

Question

Applying knowledge: Imagine a population of moths where wing color is determined by one gene with two alleles. Allele L is associated with light grey wings, and allele D is associated with dark grey wings. L is dominant to D, and therefore heterozygotes have light grey wings. The main predator of this species is a bird that hunts primarily by sight. The birds are more successful at preying on moths when they can clearly see the moths against a background.

You collect moths and their predator from the wild, and bring them to your lab to conduct an experiment. You set up two experimental cages. They both contain a population of 50 moths with roughly equal frequencies of L and D, and some members of the predator species. In one of your experimental cages, the surfaces on which moths can land are a light color, and in the other cage the surfaces are a dark color. You continually measure allele frequencies of L and D in both treatments for 15 generations. In which experimental treatment would you be most likely to observe one allele becoming extinct (lost)? Which allele? Explain your reasoning.