Aresearcher discovered a species of moth that lays its eggs on oak trees. eggs are laid at two distinct times of the year: early in spring when the oak trees are flowering and in midsummer when flowering is past. caterpillars from eggs that hatch in spring feed on oak flowers and look like oak flowers. but caterpillars that hatch in summer feed on oak leaves and look like oak twigs. how does the same population of moths produce such different-looking caterpillars on the same trees?

Reproductive Isolation

Explanation:

This type of reproductive isolation is called temporal isolation. The two sub-population of the same incipient caterpillar species could interbreed, however, they reproduce at different seasons and thus rarely interbreed. These two sub-populations could diverge into two different caterpillar species if the isolation continues over time and as they adapt to their different niches.

it is a learned trait

explanation:

small, big, or no change could occur in the phenotype. it could cause something as simple as a cats ears to curl backwards or something as frighting as death. it could also occur in the protien-coding area and have an effect on that but no effect on the amino acids. what has to occur is a changing in the hox gene or the control gene.