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Peppered Moth | Daily Animal Facts

Animal profile

Peppered Moth

Biston betularia

InsectaWoodland, hedgerow and gardens across the temperate northern hemisphere

Field profile

A night-flying geometrid that rests by day on trunks and branches. It occurs in a speckled pale form and a near-black melanic form. The rise and fall of the black form in industrial Britain is one of the most closely studied cases of natural selection in the wild.

Scope note

This is an editorial profile, not a diagnostic field-identification guide or a substitute for current conservation assessments. Follow the cited sources on each fact for the evidence trail.

Published field notes

2024-08-18

Peppered Moth

One jumping gene turned the peppered moth black

The industrial melanism story is old, but its genetic cause was pinned down only in 2016: a transposable element inserted into a single gene. Dating the insertion placed it in the early nineteenth century, matching the historical record.

Read with evidence →