Based on a cladogram showing the evolutionary relationships among a butterfly, a beetle, a dragonfly, and a grasshopper, which of these insects is least closely related to the others?

• A. Grasshopper
• B. Beetle
• C. Dragonfly
• D. Butterfly

Answer: (C)

Verified step by step guidance

1. Step 1: Understand the concept of a cladogram. A cladogram is a diagram that shows evolutionary relationships among organisms based on shared traits and common ancestors. Organisms closer together on the cladogram are more closely related.
2. Step 2: Identify the organisms in the problem: butterfly, beetle, dragonfly, and grasshopper. These are the insects whose evolutionary relationships are being compared.
3. Step 3: Examine the evolutionary traits that group these insects. Traits such as wing structure, body segmentation, and developmental patterns are often used to determine relationships in a cladogram.
4. Step 4: Determine which insect is least closely related by identifying the one that diverges earliest on the cladogram. The insect that shares fewer traits with the others or has a more distant common ancestor is the least closely related.
5. Step 5: Based on the problem, the dragonfly is identified as the least closely related insect. This suggests that the dragonfly diverged earlier in evolutionary history compared to the butterfly, beetle, and grasshopper.