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Peppered Moth PowerPoint

The history of the changing populations of the Peppered Moth in England and their significance as evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection

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John Osborne
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724 views

Peppered Moth PowerPoint

The history of the changing populations of the Peppered Moth in England and their significance as evidence for the theory of evolution by natural selection

Uploaded by

John Osborne
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Evolution in Action

The Peppered Moth


Evolution in action
The Peppered Moth (Biston betularia) is a species of moth found in many
countries. There are two varieties, with different colours:
• Speckled (white)
• Melanic (dark)

John O may 2021


Evolution in action
Peppered moths are active at night. During the day, they lie quietly on
walls and the trunks of trees, where they are hunted by a variety of
different, insect-eating birds (insectivores).

John O may 2021


Evolution in action
Melanic and
speckled
moths on a
white, lichen-
covered tree
trunk.
Can you even
find the
speckled
moth?
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
Melanic and
speckled moths
on a dirty, soot-
covered tree
trunk.

Can you even


find the
melanic moth?
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
Peppered moths are especially common in northern
England.

Up until the mid-19th century (1848), the speckled,


mostly white variety was most common. The
melanic variety was seldom seen.

By the end of the 19th century (1899), the speckled


variety was almost never seen but the black,
melanic variety had become very common.

John O may 2021


Evolution in action
Here are some statistics. These numbers show the
percentage of the different varieties of Peppered
moth which were trapped by scientists in 1848 and
in 1899.
Year % melanic (dark) % speckled (white)
1848 5 95
1899 98 2
So, in 1848, 95% of the captured moths were light
coloured. In 1899, the reverse.
Why? Can you propose a reason for this change?
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
The answer lies with
the Industrial
Revolution, which
began in the mid-19th
century and which in
England was focussed
on the northern
counties, where the
Peppered moths lived.
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
How did the Industrial Revolution affect the Peppered
moths of northern England?
Pre-industrial England (<1850)
• low levels of pollution and no black soot in the air
• light coloured tree trunks and walls
• Insectivorous birds could easily see the melanic (dark)
variety of Peppered moth and so ate them all. The
Speckled moths survived!
Industrial revolution (1850 and onwards)
• High levels of pollution and black soot from the factories
• Dark coloured trees and walls
• Insectivorous birds could easily see the speckled
variety of Peppered moth and so ate them all. The
melanics survived!
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
The story does not finish there!
In the 1950’s, lots of anti-pollution laws
and legislation were passed in England,
and quickly the environment became
cleaner.
• Clean air legislation
• Trees trunks and walls became lighter in
colour again as lichens grew on them.
How did this affect the two varieties of
Peppered moths?
John O may 2021
Evolution in action
Let’s see what the statistics say:

Year % melanic (dark) % speckled (white)


1995 19 81
By the end of the 20th century, the melanic (dark)
variety of the Peppered moth was hard to see.
Scientists were trapping many more of the speckled
variety.

Reason? The insectivorous birds now were easily


able to see the melanic variety, so hunted them.
John O may 2021
John O may 2021

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