Critical Reasoning

A fatal disease caused by the parasite Encarsia formosa and spread by greenhouse whiteflies has already killed 50 percent of the cucumber crops planted on the Redfern farm, the largest cucumber producing farm in the northeastern United States. Trialeurodes vaporariorum kills the larvae of greenhouse whiteflies. In an effort to save the remaining cucumber crops on the farm, plant biologists plan to introduce Trialeurodes vaporariorum to the cucumber fields of Redfern farm.

Which of the following, if true about Trialeurodes vaporariorum, provides the strongest evidence that the plan will succeed?


(A) It is spread by a type of earthworm that lives on the farm near greenhouse whiteflies' hatching sites.

(B) It has been known to lay dormant in cucumber plants for five years or more before it begins to reproduce.

(C) It spreads more slowly than Encarsia formosa under most conditions.

(D) It does not destroy some commonly found subspecies of greenhouse whiteflies.

(E) It has been known to kill wheat and barley crops by attacking their nutrient intake capabilities.