2024 GS Paper I, all questions

UPSC Prelims 2024 · GS Paper I

Question 21: Environment and Ecology

The organisms “Cicada, Froghopper and Pond skater” are :

aBirds
bFish
cInsects
dReptiles

AnswerUPSC’s answer is (c).

Cicadas, froghoppers and pond skaters are insects, all of them true bugs (order Hemiptera) with piercing and sucking mouthparts. Like other insects they have three body parts (head, thorax, abdomen) and six legs. Pond skaters live on the surface of water, but they are insects, not fish. Remember: insects have six legs; the name of a creature can mislead.

Why each option is right or wrong
  • (a) Wrong: none of them is a bird; they are six-legged invertebrates.
  • (b) Wrong: the pond skater lives on water but is an insect, not a fish.
  • (c) Right: cicada, froghopper and pond skater are insects.
  • (d) Wrong: none is a reptile; they are invertebrates.

Answer: UPSC’s key. Explanation: written by UPSC Grade, not by UPSC.

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Source: UPSC, Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2024, General Studies Paper I, Series A. The paper on upsc.gov.in.