Peppered Moth

industrial melanism in the peppered moth

industrial melanism in the peppered moth

peppered moth, (Biston betularia), species of European moth in the family Geometridae (order Lepidoptera) that has speckled black-and-white wings. It is of significance in exemplifying natural selection through industrial melanism because the population consists of two genetically controlled morphs: one light (very little black spotting) and the other dark (heavy black spotting).

Prior to 1848 the peppered moth existed mainly as the white-coloured morph. In 1848 a dark (melanic) morph of the peppered moth was first noticed in Manchester, Eng. By 1898 this dark morph outnumbered the light-coloured morph by 99 to 1. The explanation of this phenomenon is that dark moths, which originally were chance mutations, were highly visible to predators when resting on lichen-covered trees during the day. However, with the advent of air pollution during the Industrial Revolution, coal soot covered the trees and killed the light-coloured lichens. This rendered the dark moths on the trees less conspicuous to bird predators than the previously cryptic light moth, leading to increased predation of light moths and reduced predation of dark moths. The difference in the colour morphs is genetically controlled and of interest as a striking example of rapid evolutionary change in a localized area.