A laboratory experiment followed the growth of a flour beetle (Triboliumsp.) population over time. At first, thepopulation increased dramatically, but later the growth slowed and the population size leveled off. Althoughfood (the wheat flour in which they live) was still abundant, the flour beetles resorted to eating their own eggswhen population densities got high. What can we conclude about cannibalism in this species?

A) It has no effect on the growth of the population, as food scarcity is clearly the limiting factor.

B) We cannot reach any conclusions based on the information provided.

C) It is a density-dependent means of population control.

D) It is a density-independent means of population control.

E) It is clearly maladaptive, as populations always do best when their densities increase as much as possible

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23 June, 09:48

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Clarence Mckee · Answer 1

E) It is clearly maladaptive, as populations always do best when their densities increase as much as possible