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Prelims 2024 paper

UPSC CSE Prelims 2024 · GS Paper I · Question 21 · Biodiversity, plants & animals

जीव “सिकाडा (साइकेडा), मंडूकफुदक (फ्रॉगहॉपर) और ताल-विसर्पी (पाँड स्केटर)” क्या हैं ?

UPSC Civil Services (Preliminary) Examination 2024, General Studies Paper I, Question 21 — Biodiversity, plants & animals.

जीव “सिकाडा (साइकेडा), मंडूकफुदक (फ्रॉगहॉपर) और ताल-विसर्पी (पाँड स्केटर)” क्या हैं ?

Read this question in English

The organisms "Cicada, Froghopper and Pond skater" are:

(a) Birds · (b) Fish · (c) Insects · (d) Reptiles

उत्तर और व्याख्या · explanation in English

Answer: (c) कीट

All three are insects, and all three belong to Hemiptera, the true bugs. The cicada is the loud 'singing' insect of trees, the froghopper (spittlebug) is a small jumping insect whose young hide in blobs of froth on plants, and the pond skater (water strider) runs across the surface film of still water.

  • ✓ (c) Cicadas and froghoppers (spittlebugs) are grouped in the Auchenorrhyncha, and water striders (pond skaters) in the Heteroptera; both groups are true bugs (order Hemiptera), and true bugs are insects with six legs and a body in three parts.
  • ✗ (b) The pond skater lives on water but never under it: water-repellent hairs on its legs let it stand on the surface, and it breathes air like other insects.
  • ✗ (d) 'Froghopper' is only a name for its frog-like leap; it is a small bug, not a reptile or an amphibian.

Remember · Cicada (Cicadidae), froghopper or spittlebug (Cercopidae) and pond skater or water strider (Gerridae) are all insects of the bug group Hemiptera.

Sources

Question and answer: UPSC's official GS Paper I (2024, Series A) — paper ↗ · answer key ↗. Explanation: Minimalist IAS, checked 30 Sept 2026 (how we verify). ·

Cite this question: UPSC CSE Prelims 2024, Q21 — minimalistias.com/pyqs/prelims/2024/q21

In the UPSC syllabus: Biodiversity, plants & animals › Animals in the news: species & habitats See it and tick it covered →

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