The mottled appearance of the
peppered moth is impressive and unusual, yet it is a regular visitor to our gardens.
Peppered moths and some copycat butterflies owe their color changes to a single gene, two new studies suggest.
In The
Peppered Moth, Drabble explores the idea of a depressive gene--something she returns to in this "oblique memoir" (Telegraph [UK], 4/19/2009).
The
peppered moth, once white with black spots, faced a strange challenge in UK during the industrial revolution.
Perhaps the most classic example of evolution-environment interdependence is that of the colour of the
peppered moth. The study was originally carried out in Britain and then later expanded to Detroit and industrial areas of the USA.
Much like the pale, speckled
peppered moth that turned black during the industrial revolution, the fittest are the species most adaptable to change.
We'll use one of the "textbook examples": the change in the melanic (dark) morph of the
peppered moth (Biston betula).
He came across a
peppered moth caterpillar, which looks like a twig and attaches itself to trees.
Some try to avoid being seen altogether by using camouflage to blend in against a background, such as the
peppered moth evolving motley wings that blend into tree bark, or stick insects that look like sticks.
Huxley, and Gregor Mendel; the expression "survival of the fittest"; the 'icons' of human evolution--Neanderthal, Java, and Peking Man; evolution of the
peppered moth and the horse; and the history of dinosaurs.
In the now notorious case of the
peppered moth they (Kettlewell and ford) argued that variations in wing colouring were directly linked to species-preservation through a process of self-induced pigmentation, which allowed for greater camouflage (or crypsis) against predators and could therefore account for a proportionate increase or decrease in moth populations.