Question

bugs chomp on their leaves. when this happens, tomato plants can change the chemicals in their leaves to make them taste bad. if enough plants in the surrounding area taste gross, the caterpillars will stop eating the plants. instead, they become cannibals and start eating one another! yuck! why do tomato plants need to protect themselves? other plants play deadly tricks on tomato plants. vibrations from insects legs harm tomato plants. cannibal tomato plants start eating one another. caterpillars and other insects eat tomato plants.

Explanation:

To determine why tomato plants need to protect themselves, we analyze each option:

• Option 1: There's no info suggesting other plants harm tomato plants this way. Eliminate.
• Option 2: The passage doesn't mention insect legs' vibrations harming tomato plants. Eliminate.
• Option 3: The passage says caterpillars become cannibals, not the plants. Eliminate.
• Option 4: The text states "bugs chomp on their leaves" and explains the plant's defense, implying caterpillars and insects eat them, so they need protection. This matches.

Answer:

1. Caterpillars and other insects eat tomato plants.