Go to the main content of the page.
Logo, Maryland State Department of Education
MCAP, Maryland Comprehensive Assessment Program

This page shows questions in the Ladybird Beetle public release module at MSDE. Life Science MISA
"Ladybird Beetle"

Select from the list to explore. Read any associated passages and then interact with the questions here.

Expand All Official Practice Test

This is test content.

Read the information on each tab. Use the information to answer the questions.

Ladybird Beetles

In the Netherlands, scientists are studying the climate’s impact on the population of ladybird beetles. One type of the beetles found in the Netherlands is the two-spot ladybird. Some two-spot ladybirds have black wing covers, while others have red wing covers.

The picture shows a black two-spot ladybird beetle on the left and a red two-spot ladybird beetle on the right. Each two-spot ladybird beetle has one spot in the middle of each wing cover.


All insects are cold-blooded, which means they cannot maintain a constant body temperature as warm-blooded organisms do. Cold-blooded organisms must “warm up” to an ideal temperature to function at their best. The scientists hypothesize that the black two-spot ladybirds are favored in colder, less windy areas because they warm up faster than the red two-spot ladybirds. The scientists observed the percent of each type of two-spot ladybirds at different locations along the line shown in the map. The cooler, less windy conditions tend to occur in the eastern regions, away from the coast. The graph shows data collected from west to east in the years 1980–2004.

A map of the Netherlands is shown. There is a line drawn on the map starting on the southwest coast of the Netherlands and proceeding inland in a southeast direction. The legend reads locations where two-spot ladybird beetles were counted.
The title of the graph is Black Two-Spot Ladybird Beetles. The x-axis is labeled Location west to east. It starts at one and extends to the right to fifteen in intervals of two. The y-axis is labeled Black Two-Spot Ladybirds percent. It begins at zero and extends upward to sixty in intervals of ten. The key shows a solid line for nineteen eighty, a dashed line for nineteen ninety-one, a dotted line for nineteen ninety-eight, and a dash-dot line for two thousand four. The solid line starts at about twenty at location one, goes up to twenty-three at location three, down to ten at location five, up to forty-five at location nine, down to thirty-five at location ten, then up to fifty-five at location fifteen. The dashed line starts at twenty at location one, goes up to twenty-three at location three, rises to thirty-eight at location nine, goes up to forty-nine at location fourteen, and down to forty-five at location sixteen. The dotted line begins at fifteen at location one and goes up to twenty-three at location nine, up to thirty-five at location ten, and levels off until location fifteen and drops to twenty-eight at location sixteen. The dash-dot line begins at twenty at location one, goes down to nine at location two, rises to twenty-nine at location ten, then lowers to twenty at location fifteen.


The scientists wondered if changes to the climate caused a genetic response in the two-spot ladybird population. Climate information for the Netherlands from 1980 through 2010 is shown in these two graphs.

The title of the graph is Change in Average Temperature. The x-axis is labeled Years. It starts at nineteen eighty and extends to the right to two thousand ten in intervals of ten. The y-axis is labeled Temperature in degrees Celsius. it begins at negative three and extends upward to two in intervals of one. The line on the graph begins above zero in nineteen eighty and goes up to about one in two thousand ten.
The title of the graph is Average Rainfall. The x-axis is labeled Years. It starts at nineteen eighty and extends to the right to two thousand ten in intervals of ten. The y-axis is labeled Rainfall in millimeters. It starts at zero and has a break in the graph, the next number shown is five hundred. After five hundred, the axis extends upward to nine hundred in intervals of one hundred. The line on the graph begins at eight hundred in nineteen eighty and goes up to eight hundred fifty in two thousand ten.

This is test content.

Rickettsia

A bacterium called Rickettsia can infect female two-spot ladybird beetles. The females then pass the Rickettsia on to their offspring. The bacteria cause the male eggs to not hatch, but the Rickettsia does not affect the female offspring that inherit it from their mothers. After hatching, the offspring often eat the unhatched eggs.

Scientists studied the effects of Rickettsia by breeding a male two-spot ladybird with an uninfected female and an infected female. The table indicates some of the data the scientists collected.

The title of the table is Breeding Results. The table has five columns and eight rows. The first column heading is Male. The second column heading is Egg Hatch Rate percent. The third column heading is Male Offspring percent. The fourth column heading is Egg Hatch Rate percent. The fifth column Heading is Male Offspring percent. The second and third columns are grouped under the heading Uninfected Female. The fourth and fifth columns are grouped under the heading Infected Female. The first row is one, eighty-one, forty, thirty-nine, eighteen. The second row is two, ninety-six, sixty-three, thirty-one, eight. The third row is three, eighty-seven, forty, forty-nine, zero. The fourth row is four, ninety-three, seventy-three, forty-six, zero. The fifth row is five, seventy-six, thirty, thirty-nine, zero. The sixth row is six, eighty-three, sixty, forty-seven, twenty-eight. The seventh row is seven, eighty-eight, seventy-one, forty-three, zero. The eighth row is eight, ninety-five, fifty-seven, forty-seven, zero.

This is test content.

Harlequin Ladybird Beetles

Harlequin ladybird beetles are another species of beetle. They were originally found in Asia. Harlequin ladybirds have multiple spots on their red wing covers and are larger in size than two-spot ladybirds.

The picture shows a harlequin ladybird beetle. The beetle has many spots on both of its wing covers.

Ladybird beetles prey on aphids, which are small plant-eating insects that can spread diseases between plants and damage crops. Farmers tried to introduce the harlequin ladybirds to control aphid populations. For many years, the farmers’ efforts were unsuccessful, and Harlequin ladybirds could not survive in the area. In the early 1990s, the harlequin ladybirds were introduced in the Netherlands, and this time the ladybirds were able to survive and even thrive. Scientists noted that the harlequin ladybirds introduced in the 1990s preyed on two-spot ladybirds as well as aphids.

The title of the graph is Two-Spot Ladybird Beetle Population. The x-axis is labeled Years. It starts at nineteen eighty and extends to the right to two thousand four in intervals of four. The y-axis is labeled Population in thousands. It starts at zero and extends upward to fifty in intervals of ten. The line on the graph starts at fifty in nineteen eighty and drops to just above zero in nineteen ninety-two where it levels off.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Which statement best describes the relationship between the black two-spot beetles and climate in the Netherlands?

  1. A.
    The percentage of black two-spot beetles increased from west to east due to lower temperatures and less precipitation in the 1980s and early 1990s.
  2. B.
    The percentage of black two-spot beetles decreased from west to east due to lower temperatures and less precipitation in the late 1990s and 2000s.
  3. C.
    The percentage of black two-spot beetles increased from west to east due to higher temperatures and more precipitation in the 1980s and early 1990s.
  4. D.
    The percentage of black two-spot beetles decreased from west to east due to higher temperatures and more precipitation in the late 1990s and 2000s.
A

The percentage of black two-spot beetles did not increase in the Netherlands during the 1980s and 1990s.

B

The temperature and rainfall in the Netherlands increased in the Netherlands during the 1990s and 2000s.

C

The percentage of black two-spot beetles did not increase in the Netherlands during the 1980s and 1990s.

D

The population percentage of black two-spot beetles decreased in the 1990s and 2000s due to climate change in the Netherlands.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select several options.

Which statements explain the evolutionary impact the Rickettsia bacterium has on the population of two-spot ladybird beetles? Select the two that apply.

  1. A.
    The population of male two-spot ladybird beetles decreases.
  2. B.
    The population of female two-spot ladybird beetles decreases.
  3. C.
    The male two-spot ladybird beetles born to uninfected females have more food readily available than those born to infected females.
  4. D.
    The male two-spot ladybird beetles born to uninfected females have less competition upon hatching than those born to infected females.
  5. E.
    The female two-spot ladybird beetles born to infected females have less competition upon hatching than those born to uninfected females.
A

Because Rickettsia results in fewer male two-spot ladybird beetles hatching, the overall numbers of male two-spots also decrease.

B

The numbers of female two-spot ladybird beetles increase as those born to infected females have two survival advantages over other two-spots.

C

The male two-spot beetles born to uninfected females do not have food readily available because very few eggs will not hatch of those laid by uninfected females, whereas offspring born to infected females can consume the unhatched eggs of the males immediately upon hatching.

D

The male two-spot beetles born to uninfected females have to compete with all of their brothers and sisters upon hatching, whereas offspring born to infected females only have about half that number with which to compete.

E

Because about half of the offspring of infected females do not hatch, the female offspring of the infected females have less competition upon hatching than do the offspring of uninfected females.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

A food web for ladybird beetles is shown.

The imported resource has no alt-text.


For which organism in the food web do the harlequin and two-spot ladybirds compete?

  1. A.
    aphid
  2. B.
    grape plant
  3. C.
    harlequin ladybird
  4. D.
    soybean plant
  5. E.
    two-spot ladybird
A
B
C
D
E

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Use the food web to help answer the question.

The imported resource has no alt-text.


Which statement describes how the harlequin ladybirds have changed the environment for the two-spot ladybirds?

  1. A.
    The harlequin ladybirds have become a new prey for the two-spot ladybirds, giving the two-spot ladybird a better survival chance.
  2. B.
    The harlequin ladybirds have become a new predator of the two-spot ladybirds, making it harder for the two-spot ladybirds to survive.
  3. C.
    The harlequin ladybirds have competed with the two-spot ladybirds for grape plants, but as there are plenty for both kinds of ladybirds this has not affected the survival of the two-spot ladybirds.
  4. D.
    The harlequin ladybirds have competed with the two-spot ladybirds for soybean plants, and the reduction in soybean plants has made it harder for two-spot ladybirds to survive.
A

Harlequin ladybirds are not prey for the two-spot ladybirds.

B

Harlequin ladybirds are able to use two-spot ladybirds as a food source and are now a predator of the two-spot ladybirds.

C

Neither of the ladybird beetles use grape plants as a food source.

D

Neither of the ladybird beetles use soybean plants as a food source.

This is a multiple choice question that allows you to select only one option.

Farmers tried for many years to introduce harlequin ladybirds to the Netherlands without any success until the early 1990s. During these years, some harlequin ladybirds must have experienced an important change that allowed them to be able to survive in the Netherlands when they were reintroduced there in the early 1990s.

Which statement best describes the important change and the long-term effects of that change on harlequin ladybirds?

  1. A.
    The change that made them better able to survive is genetic competition, and the long-term inheritance of the change by each new generation of harlequin ladybirds is natural selection.
  2. B.
    The change that made them better able to survive is biological evolution, and the long-term inheritance of the change by each new generation of harlequin ladybirds is genetic competition.
  3. C.
    The change that made them better able to survive is natural selection, and the long-term inheritance of the change by each new generation of harlequin ladybirds is biological evolution.
  4. D.
    The change that made them better able to survive is genetic competition, and the long-term inheritance of the change by each new generation of harlequin ladybirds is biological evolution.
A
B
C
D

This is a test question that allows you to enter extended text in your response.

Use evidence to explain the survival advantages and disadvantages a red two-spot ladybird has if it is born to a female that is not infected with Rickettsia and lives on the southwestern coast of the Netherlands.

Type your answer in the space provided.

Sample Response:

Advantages: A red two-spot ladybird, due to its red color that does not absorb as much sunlight as quickly as a black two-spot ladybird, would not be affected by the warming temperatures and increased precipitation if the climate change continues along its current trend.

Disadvantages: A red two-spot ladybird will be the prey of harlequin ladybird beetles. When it is born, it will compete with more siblings for food and habitat than would the offspring of an infected female because many of the infected female’s offspring will not hatch. Also, when it is born it will not have a ready food supply as will the offspring of an infected female because the surviving offspring of an infected female can eat the unhatched eggs.

Score Description
4

There is evidence in this response that the student has a full and complete understanding of the solution to a problem or constructs a full and complete explanation of the question.

  • Demonstrates complete integration of the use of science and engineering practices such as modeling, engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, etc.
  • Provides a solution or explanation that is coherent and based on disciplinary core ideas
  • Reflects a complete synthesis of understanding of complex ideas and crosscutting concepts
  • Includes an effective application of the 3 dimensions (SEP, DCI, and CCC) to a practical problem or real-world situation which demonstrates a complete understanding of the 3 dimensions
3

There is evidence in this response that the student has a general understanding of the solution to a problem or constructs a complete explanation of the question.

  • Demonstrates integration of the use of science and engineering practices such as modeling, engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, etc.
  • Provides a solution or explanation that is mostly coherent and based on disciplinary core ideas
  • Reflects a synthesis of understanding of complex ideas and crosscutting concepts
  • Includes an effective application of the 3 dimensions to a practical problem or real-world situation which demonstrates an understanding of the 3 dimensions
2

There is evidence in this response that the student has a partial understanding of the solution to a problem or constructs an explanation of the question.

  • Demonstrates some integration of the use of science and engineering practices such as modeling, engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, etc.
  • Provides a solution or explanation that is adequately coherent and based on disciplinary core ideas
  • Reflects some synthesis of understanding of complex ideas and crosscutting concepts
  • Includes an application of the 3 dimensions to a practical problem or real-world situation which demonstrates a partial understanding of the 3 dimensions
1

There is evidence in this response that the student has a minimal understanding of the solution to a problem or constructs a minimal explanation of the question.

  • Demonstrates little or no integration of the use of science and engineering practices such as modeling, engaging in argument from evidence, obtaining, evaluating, and communicating information, etc.
  • Provides a solution or explanation that is minimally based on disciplinary core ideas
  • Reflects little or no synthesis of understanding of complex ideas and crosscutting concepts
  • Includes an application of the 3 dimensions to a practical problem or real-world situation which demonstrates a minimal understanding of the 3 dimensions
0

There is evidence that the student has no understanding of the solution to a problem or the question.

  • The response is completely incorrect, too vague, or irrelevant to the solution or question
Blank