The

mosquito
By Angelique Jammal, Marina Mechail and Rachelle Tran

 The mosquito population

decreased when DDT was
introduced to their
environment because it
causes the mosquitoes
nerve cells to keep firing
and the insect goes into a
spasm before it dies.
Mosquitoes eventually
evolved over time so they
became resistant to the
pesticide DDT and the
insecticide could not bind to
the nerve endings to kill
them.

The change in
species

When DDT is sprayed or dusted

on people, it can leach off the
soil in to nearby rivers. There it
contributes to the growth of
algae. When algae die, they
sink to the bottom of the river
bed where decomposing
bacteria use the oxygen
dissolved in water to
decompose the algae. This
causes the aquatic life to
suffocate and die and also
contaminates the water making
it not suitable for drinking. DDT
becomes more toxic as it goes
along the food chain and it
becomes most toxic at the
highest trophic level. This is
because the organism in each
trophic level will feed on more
numbers of organisms in the
previous trophic level.

The change in
environment

 The pesticide DDT in the

environment is an example
of chemical change

Type of
change

Selective pressure is any

environmental change that
alters the behaviour or fitness
of living organisms, and this
is the driving force of natural
selection. The insecticide
DDT was a way to decrease
the mosquito population in
some areas to reduce cases
of malaria, which is spread by
mosquitoes. By spraying DDT
or dusting people with it, it
causes mosquitoes nerve
cells to keep firing and the
insect goes into a spasm
before it dies. This causes
selective pressure on the
mosquito population which
favours the resistant
mosquitoes.

Selective
pressure
acting on the
organism

As previously mentioned, DDT in

the environment is an example of
a chemical change which placed
selective pressure on the mosquito.
Random mutation and variation of
genes gave mosquitoes favourable
adaptations so they were resistant
to DDT and the insecticide could
not bind to their nerve endings to
send them into spasm. These
mosquitoes were more likely to
survive, thrive and pass on their
advantageous genes in the new
environment. The next generation
contained more mosquitoes which
were resistant to DDT, and over
time, the proportion of mosquitoes
able to resist DDT were be greater
than those which couldnt.
Eventually, the majority of the
population was filled with DDT
resistant mosquitoes and now the
insecticide rarely has an effect on
them.

How the
selective
pressure led
to a change in
species

Macroevolution refers to major

evolutionary changes over
time, the origin of new types of
organisms from previously
existing but different ancestral
types. On the other hand,
microevolution refers to a small
evolutionary change and to
varieties within a given type.
The change in mosquitoes is an
example of micro-evolution.
This is because the mosquitoes
still have the same ancestor
specie which hadnt changed
even though variation and
random mutation of genetic
material. The DDT resistant
mosquitoes can also still
reproduce with the non DDT
resistant mosquitoes, which is
impossible if it was
macroevolution.

Macro or
micro
evolution