Question 74

(Multiple Choice)

A farm pond, usually dry during winter, has plenty of water and aquatic pond life during the summer. One summer, Sarah returns to the family farm from college. Observing the pond, she is fascinated by some six-legged organisms that can crawl about on submerged surfaces or, when disturbed, seemingly "jet" through the water. Watching further, she is able to conclude that the "mystery organisms" are ambush predators, and their prey includes everything from insects to small fish and tadpoles.
-Sarah noticed the presence of many empty exoskeletons attached to emergent vegetation. These exoskeletons looked exactly like those of the largest of the "mystery organisms" she had seen in the pond. They also looked similar to the bodies of the dragonflies that patrolled the surface of the pond. If Sarah had learned a lot from her college biology class, what should she have concluded about the mysterious pond organisms?


A) They are larval dragonflies, destined to undergo incomplete metamorphosis.
B) They are larval dragonflies, destined to undergo complete metamorphosis.
C) They are adult dragonflies, so old that they can no longer fly, have fallen into the pond, but have not yet drowned.
D) They are adult dragonflies that must, like many amphibian species, return to water in order to mate.

Answer