A soybean farmer applies a pesticide to his crops each year. after several years, he notices that the pesticide seems to have less of an effect on the insects. the population of insects is now more resistant to the pesticide. would this be an example of artificial or natural selection? briefly explain your answer.

The given case is an illustration of natural selection. Natural selection refers to the phenomenon on the basis of which the organisms that get amended with the environment, seem to thrive and generate more offspring. The theory was first postulated by Charles Darwin and is now considered to be the prime reason, which results in evolution.

Similarly, in the given question, the insects who could withstand the environment around them continue to reproduce, in comparison to those who could not cope up with the environment, thus, this would be regarded as an illustration of natural selection.

'Natural selection' can be defined as the process of selection of the organisms who are more evolved and better suited for their surroundings and are capable of producing high number of offsprings. Artificial selection can be defined as the selection of the organisms by the humans to selectively breed whether or not they are suited for the changing surroundings or not. Since, the farmer only introduced the pesticide, and the insects evolved and inherited resistance to the pesticide, this is a case of the natural selection.