The Japanese beetle, accidentally introduced into local forests approximately 15 years ago, threatens the indigenous population of an endangered species of woodpeckers because the beetles consume the leaves of the trees in which the woodpeckers nest, causing the woodpeckers to die in large numbers. Some local officials have advocated spraying insecticide. The officials contend that this action, while eliminating the beetles, would pose no threat to the woodpeckers because the chemical used would only affect the beetles and other insects and would have no harmful effect on the woodpeckers.

Which of the following, if true, most calls into question the officials' argument?


One of the species whose members are likely to succumb to the insecticide is the box elder bug, a species on which the woodpecker does not prey.

The woodpeckers whose nesting sites are currently being destroyed by the Japanese beetles feed primarily on insects.

No indigenous population of any other bird species apart from the endangered woodpeckers is threatened by the Japanese beetles.

The woodpeckers that are threatened build their nests in the tops of trees, but the beetles consume primarily the leaves in the lower levels of the trees.

The officials' plan entails aerial application of the insecticide, which would be so dilute as to not affect other animals in the forest.


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