Peppered Moths

why are they called "peppered moths?

because their light wings are "peppered" with small dark spots

what animals eat the peppered moths?

flycatchers, nuthatches, and the European robin

what is a lichen?

small fungi that lives on trees

what do the larvae of the moths eat?

leaves of birch, willow, and oak trees

how do peppered moths spend the winter?

they change into pupae

moths that have more dark spots than the average moth are called what?

insularia

where was the first black form of the moth found?

near the center of Manchester

what was the Industrial Revolution?

the time period in history when factories were being built and ran by burning coal for fuel

what was causing the different colors in the moths?

a genetic mutation in the DNA that was passed down to the offspring

what is natural selection?

when one type of species has an advantage because of the environment

who suggested that peppered moths were and example of natural selection?

J.W. Tutt

what is industrial melanism?

process by which species darken over time in polluted forests

what is an entomologist?

a scientist that studies insects

how do scientists test theories?

by making predictions based on the theory and then testing the predictions to see if their observation matches the expectation

what is one of Kettlewell's predictions?

clean forests will have mostly light peppered moths

dark moths were found in what part of the country?

industrial cities producing pollution

how did Kettlewell directly study the moths?

he placed light and dark moths on tree trunks and recorded the times it took for the bird to find the moths

why did dark moths have a survival advantage?

then blended in with the dark tree trunks while the light moths stood out

when Kettlewell recaptured the marked moths, what did he find?

there were twice as many light moths in the clean forests than dark moths and twice as many dark moths in polluted forests than light moths

where did Kettlewell publish his findings?

Scientific American

how did the color of the moths increase or decrease their chance of survival?

in a light environment, the dark moth population decreases because they are easier to see and vice versa

how is the concept of "natural selection" used in the moths?

the light moths were eaten in the dark forests because they didn't blend in and vice versa