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Peppered moth insularia on the bark of a lichen-covered birch. By the time of Kettlewell, it was known in England that there were three varieties of peppered moth. The normal, typica, is whitish-grey in colour with dark speckles on the wings. The colour was a perfect camouflage on light-coloured trees covered with lichens.
Henry Bernard Davis Kettlewell (24 February 1907 – 11 May 1979) [1] was a British geneticist, lepidopterist and medical doctor, who performed research on the influence of industrial melanism on peppered moth (Biston betularia) coloration, showing why moths are darker in polluted areas.
The Peppered Moth: Decline of a Darwinian Disciple. This is the transcript of Michael Majerus' lecture delivered to the British Humanist Association on Darwin Day 2004. The Peppered Moth: The Proof of Darwinian Evolution. This is the transcript of Majerus' lecture given at the European Society for Evolutionary Biology meeting on 23 August 2007.
The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying moth. [1] It is mostly found in the northern hemisphere in places like Asia, Europe and North America. Peppered moth evolution is an example of population genetics and natural selection. [2] The caterpillars of the peppered moth not only mimic the form but also the ...
He was widely noted for his work on moths and ladybirds and as an advocate of the science of evolution. He was also an enthusiastic educator [1] [2] and the author of several books on insects, [3] [4] evolution [5] [6] and sexual reproduction. [7] He is best remembered as an ardent supporter and champion of experiments on peppered moth ...
Industrial melanism is known from over 70 species of moth that Kettlewell found in England, and many others from Europe and North America. [17] Among these, Apamea crenata (clouded border brindle moth) and Acronicta rumicis (knot grass moth) are always polymorphic, though the melanic forms are more common in cities and (like those of the peppered moth) are declining in frequency as those ...
Between 1953 and 1956, the geneticist Bernard Kettlewell experimented on peppered moth evolution. He presented results showing that in a polluted urban wood with dark tree trunks, dark moths survived better than pale ones, causing industrial melanism , whereas in a clean rural wood with paler trunks, pale moths survived better than dark ones.
The book contains a very useful summary of Majerus' work on melanism in ladybirds and a review of the peppered moth story, including observations on moth behavior which sparked controversy. It may be criticised for being unevenly edited so as not to suit any one audience in its entirety.