PEPPERED MOTHS

 Family – Thorns, beauties, umbers and allies

 Large sized
 Wingspan range: 44-56mm

They live woodland, shrubs, hedgerows, parks and gardens. Peppered

moths are normally white with black speckles cross the wings, giving it its
name. This pattern makes it well camouflaged against lichen (organism that
arise from algae or cyanobacteria)-covered tree trunks when it rests on
them during the day.

There is also naturally genetic mutation, which causes some moths to have
almost black wings. These black forms (called ‘melanic’) are not as well
camouflaged on lichen as normal ‘peppered’ forms, so they are more likely
to be eaten by birds and other predators. This means that fewer black
forms and survive to breed, so they are less common in the population than
the paler peppered forms. This is the normal situation observed in the
countryside of Britain and Ireland.

However, in the 19th century industrialisation and domestic coal fires had
caused sooty air pollution which caused pale moths more obvious to
predators, as the lichen’s have been killed off.