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Monthly Temperatures and Wing Centroid Sizes of Fruit Fly Specimens
MonthAverage high (°F)Average low (°F)Average male wing centroid size (mm)Average female wing centroid size (mm)
July87622.022.31
June80562.012.31
May73501.982.27
October67441.982.29
Drosophila (fruit flies) have generation times of 10-12 days, so seasonal changes in humidity and other environmental conditions can drive seasonal fluctuations in chromosome rearrangements in species such as D. persimilis and D. mediopunctata. Drosophila body size (for which wing centroid size serves as a proxy measure) correlates with life span. Banu Şebnem Önder and Cansu Fidan Aksoy measured the wing sizes members of a D. melanogaster population in Yeşilöz, Turkey, that were collected monthly between May and October over three years. Their research suggests that Drosophila collected in relatively cooler months should tend to have a shorter life span, as is illustrated by the finding that
Which choice most effectively uses data from the table to complete the assertion?
A
the average female wing centroid size was smaller in May than in June.
B
the average male wing centroid size was consistently smaller than the average female wing centroid size in all four months in the table.
C
the average monthly low temperature was lower in May than in June.
D
the average male wing centroid size was 1.98 mm in May but was 2.31 mm in July.