PrepTest 108, Section 2, Question 7
When an invading insect threatens an ant colony's(66 more words not shown)
Which one of the following(8 more words not shown)
- AThe secretions produced(18 more words not shown)
- BSouth American ants(21 more words not shown)
- CWith the sole(18 more words not shown)
- DAmong insect species(23 more words not shown)
- ERiodinid caterpillars in(23 more words not shown)
Reading the argument
These caterpillars have useful neighbors. The ants defend their territory and food sources, and the caterpillars supply food through their secretions. So what happens when a wasp tries to eat a caterpillar?
That wasp would be threatening one of the ants' food sources. We already know the ants can drive off even aggressive flying insects by swarming, biting, and stinging. Put those facts together, and I'd expect the ants to help protect the caterpillars from wasps.
What we’re looking for
Notice that the ants don't attack every insect that happens to be nearby. The passage describes a response to a threat, and it specifically gives us insects the ants live with peacefully. For the most strongly supported answer, follow the connection among the food source, the threat, and the ants' defense. Don't add a claim about every other insect or every ant colony in the world.
Working the answers
- A
We don't know the chemical makeup of either secretion. The fact that ants eat something produced by caterpillars doesn't establish that plants produce a chemically identical substance. Two different things can both be food without being chemically the same.
- B
We aren't comparing South American ants with ants elsewhere. We have information about a defensive tactic and a relationship with these caterpillars. Nothing ranks the success of different regions' ants. Ants elsewhere might be equally successful, more successful, or less successful.
- C
These caterpillars are an example of insects the ants tolerate, not the only possible example. The opening also concerns invading insects that threaten territory or food, not every organism that enters the area. C turns a specific defensive response into an almost universal attack policy.
- D
Wasps are described as predators of these caterpillars. That doesn't mean they are the only other creatures that use the caterpillars as food. Some additional insect might eat them too; the passage hasn't excluded that possibility.
- ECorrect
The caterpillars supply food to ants that defend their food sources. A wasp attacking a caterpillar among those ants therefore faces a defense it would not face when attacking a caterpillar away from them.
That supports a lower chance of a successful attack. E doesn't promise that ants stop every wasp, or that wasps never attempt an attack. The ants' ability to deter them is enough to support the comparison.
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