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	Peppered moth - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
		The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a temperate species of night-flying moth often used by educators as an example of natural selection (see theory of evolution, industrial melanism).
		In Britain, the peppered moth is univoltine (i.e.
		Melanism: Evolution in Action (1998) by Mike Majerus is the definitive reference on this work, which provides an introduction to evolutionary theory as well as describing the peppered moth case study.
	en.wikipedia.org /wiki/Peppered_moth (551 words)

	The Nature Institute - Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth
		The peppered moth is used in high school and college biology courses, as well as in many textbooks, to illustrate evolution via natural selection.
		The "peppered moth," Biston betularia, occurs in light and dark (melanic) forms, both of which are shown in Figure 1.
		He said: what the peppered moth is really showing us is how a species, by having different forms, is more flexible and able to survive as one species; the populations and varieties of the species fluctuate, but the species as a whole continues to thrive.
	www.natureinstitute.org /txt/ch/moth.htm (5130 words)

	Peppered moth - EvoWiki (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Starting in 1953, Bernard Kettlewell conducted field experiments on the peppered moth, providing hard evidence that differential bird predation based on relative camouflage was the primary selective force contributing to the different fitnesses of the moth morphs in polluted and unpolluted environments.
		Peppered moths fall with in the family Geometridae, the geometer or geometric moths; one of the numerous families of Lepidoptera.
		Peppered moth larvae appear to be generalist leaf-eaters, consuming a wide variety of species.
	wiki.cotch.net /wiki.phtml?title=Peppered_moth (5445 words)

	Peppered Moths
		Industrial melanism in peppered moths is one of the most frequently used examples of natural selection in action.
		Moths are found all over trees, which is not a surprise (Clarke et al., 1994) and it is mentioned in the references that Wells cites.
		Although it is true that the moths are well-camouflaged against lichens, and lichens are destroyed by pollution, nevertheless the camouflage of the moths ultimately depends upon the color of the trees, which reflect the amount of soot staining the trees.
	www.ncseweb.org /icons/icon6moths.html (1886 words)

	Second Thoughts About Peppered Moths (unedited): Wells, Jonathan
		If peppered moths normally rest under horizontal branches in the upper canopy, then observations of differential bird predation on moths which are placed on tree trunks probably have little relevance to their survival in the wild.
		The geographic distribution of melanic peppered moths did not fit the theory: the frequency of melanics was not as high as it should have been in some places, and higher than it should have been in others.
		A decline of melanism in the peppered moth Biston betularia in The Netherlands.
	www.arn.org /docs/wells/jw_pepmoth.htm (4764 words)

	Frequently asked questions about evolution
		Answer: The assertion that ‘moths don't normally rest on tree trunks,’ is patently untrue: the best estimate is that peppered moths rest on tree trunks about 25% of the time they are at rest.
		The basic idea was that the habitat for these moths were changing due to human impact (industrial air pollution that was flening trees), and that this change had selected for a darker (melanic) color mutant of these moths.
		Evolution by natural selection has been experimentally verified time and time again, and merely asserting that this is not true is not going to change this fact.
	www3.uakron.edu /biology/evolution/html/faq.htm (2366 words)

	Evolution; God's Greatest Creation
		Creationists frequently disagree with claims of evolution in living organisms that are theoretically possible, especially with the consideration that intelligently designed genetic recombination is the true source of variability driving this process.
		The peacock’s eye, the peppered moth colors, the giraffe’s neck, or even the bombardier beetle’s discharge could all have evolved; and yet are argued to be created features by the majority of the creation community.
		Evolution is a biological process well substantiated by living organisms, but is being used to explain a common ancestry for all life on earth.
	nwcreation.net /evolution_creation.html (3857 words)

	Peppered Moth Evolution Kit
		Kettlewell released both white and fl moths into the wild and demonstrated that the fl moths survived at a higher rate in the polluted areas.
		Some are beginning to say that the case of the peppered moth may be one of the biggest cases of scientific fraud of the twentieth century, up there with the Piltdown Man.
		You see, moths tend not to rest on tree trunks during the day; their main predators are bats, not birds; and anyway, birds see more in the UV range than people do, so what looks camouflaged to us may not look so to a bird.
	museumofhoaxes.com /hoax/weblog/permalink/peppered_moth_evolution_kit (238 words)

	Icons of Evolution
		These include the peppered moth story of natural selection, Darwin’s finches as an example of adaptive speciation, and the ubiquitous tree of life with its implied common ancestor to all life forms.
		Second, the peppered variety was camouflaged from predation by birds on the lichen-covered tree trunks, and the melanic variety was camouflaged on the dark tree trunk.
		Evolution is the principal foundation of the naturalistic world view, presented by many in academia as the only scientific, and therefore, objective, view of reality.
	www.exchangedlife.com /articles/icons_of_evolution.htm (2511 words)

	CB601: The peppered moth story
		According to the traditional peppered moth story, cryptic coloration confers protection to the moths from predators, and as the habitat changed due to industrial pollution, natural selection caused the frequencies of different color varieties of the moth to change.
		That story is no longer supportable because of flaws found in the experiments, such as where the moths rested, and the occurrence of contrary data, such as unaccountable frequencies of uncamouflaged moths in areas.
		Even though Kettlewell released his moths in daylight when a night release would have been more true to nature, he used the same procedure in areas that differed only in the amount of industrial pollution, showing conclusively that industrial pollution was a factor responsible for the difference in predation between color varieties.
	www.talkorigins.org /indexcc/CB/CB601.html (539 words)

	Evolution - A-Z - Peppered moth
		The usual form of the peppered moth Biston betularia in northern Europe has a light 'peppered' pattern of coloration.
		The moth rests on tree branches and its color pattern camouflages it against predatory attack.
		Through the 19th century, the melanic form increased in frequency until, near industrial regions, it was the normal type of the moth.
	www.blackwellpublishing.com /ridley/a-z/Peppered_moth.asp (231 words)

	Scientists pick holes in Darwinian Peppered Moth Theory [Free Republic]
		EVOLUTION experts are quietly admitting that one of their most cherished examples of Darwin's theory, the rise and fall of the peppered moth, is based on a series of scientific blunders.
		Wells argues: Pictures of peppered moths camouflaged on tree trunks are used as evidence for natural selection, but biologists have known since the 1980s that the moths don’t normally rest on tree trunks, and in any event all the pictures have been staged.
		Pictures of peppered moths are not used as evidence of natural selection, but to illustrate the camouflage differences between the pale and dark forms of the peppered moth on various backgrounds.
	www.freerepublic.com /forum/a3b6ac79f6d40.htm (8292 words)

	The Peppered Moth
		The light-colored form of the moth, known as typica, was the predominant form in England prior to the beginning of the industrial revolution.
		The increase in carbonaria moths was so dramatic that many naturalists made the immediate suggestion that it had to be the result of the effects of industrial activity on the local landscape.
		The population of dark moths rose and fell in parallel to industrial pollution, and the percentage of dark moths in the population was clearly highest in regions of the countryside that were most polluted.
	www.millerandlevine.com /km/evol/Moths/moths.html (1229 words)

	The Peppered Moth: Evolution Comes Unglued (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Now the dark variety of moth was camouflaged better as it rested on the dark, sooty trunks, so birds now ate more of the light moths that they could see better.
		The peppered moth story has been trumpeted since the 1950s as proof positive that evolution by natural selection is true.
		The main problem with the peppered moth story is that it has been known since about 1980 that the nocturnal peppered moth does not rest on the trunks of trees during the day.
	www.clcoc.org /news/peppered.htm (510 words)

	Evidence for Evolution (Page 7)
		Biologists soon noticed that in industrialized regions where the dark moths were common, the tree trunks were darkened almost fl by the soot of pollution.
		To evaluate his results, he had marked the released moths with a dot of paint on the underside of their wings, where birds could not see it.
		This indicated that dark moths had a far better chance of surviving in these polluted woods, where the tree trunks were dark.
	www.txtwriter.com /Backgrounders/Evolution/EVpage07.html (625 words)

	Moonshine: why the peppered moth remains an icon of evolution: the peppered moth evolved a dark form in response to ...
		Moonshine: why the peppered moth remains an icon of evolution: the peppered moth evolved a dark form in response to soot covering its habitat during the industrial revolution.
		Beginning in the mid-1800s, successive generations of peppered moths (Biston betularia) in Britain gradually darkened in response to the air pollution in the industrialized parts of the country (figure 1).
		Specifically, a genetically determined dark, or melanic, form of the moth replaced the lighter form as industrial pollution killed lichens on the bark of trees and also coated the bark with a layer of soot.
	www.findarticles.com /p/articles/mi_m2843/is_2_29/ai_n13628921 (978 words)

	Moonshine: Why the Peppered Moth Remains an Icon of Evolution
		Figure 1: The number of moths Kettlewell recaptured as a function of the number he released the previous night.
		Kettlewell was a distinguished naturalist whose studies on predation in peppered moths were a landmark in demonstrating natural selection in the wild.
		It is an irresponsible leap to accuse a distinguished naturalist of fraud on the basis of a single letter and a wholly imperfect, offhand analysis of his data. The peppered moth properly remains a valid paradigm, no, an icon, of evolution.
	www.talkdesign.org /faqs/moonshine.htm (1902 words)

	The Peppered Moth (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Almost all peppered moths were gray with dark flecks, but very rarely a fl moth was observed.
		Peppered moths rest during the day on tree trunks, where they are vulnerable to being eaten by birds.
		In industrial areas, because fl moths avoided being eaten by birds, they survived better and therefore reproduced more (had higher fitness.) As a result, each generation, more and more of the offspring born came from fl parents and inherited the fl coloration, since the color differences between moths (gray versus fl) are genetic.
	www.utm.edu /departments/cens/biology/rirwin/391/moth.htm (458 words)

	The Peppered Moth Shows Evolution In Action (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		The Peppered moth (Biston betularia) is typically a whitish moth covered with fl spots.
		Like humans, however, these moths can be found in a range of pigmentation from very fl to very white and all shades in between.
		In a much touted study in England it was found that when the white trees, on which the moths rested, became dark from industrial pollution, birds ate more of the lighter moths (apparently missing the darker ones).
	emporium.turnpike.net /C/cs/peppered.htm (478 words)

	Peppered Moth (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Moths in England were of two forms: dark and light
		Twice as many light moths were eaten by birds on the dark bark of trees in the polluted region
		Twice as many dark moths were eaten by birds on the light trees in the unpolluted areas
	www.towson.edu /~hull/Courses/CGB/Discuss/Evolution/Pepper.html (155 words)

	How The Evolution Debate Can Be Won
		The basis of the theory of evolution is that it is possible for these mindless material forces to create plants and animals that are masterpieces of intricate complexity-far more complicated than a super computer or a space ship.
		But air pollution laws kicked in around 1950, the trees were cleaned up, and now the birds could see the darker colored moths better and they ate their fill, and the population went back to what it had been at the beginning-mostly light moths.
		I get on the Peppered Moth case and why it doesn't show anything and why it's a dishonest piece of work, and they'll say, "Let's talk about Noah's Ark instead." They want to because they know how to fight the Bible and they know how to use the techniques of ridicule and stereotype.
	www.coralridge.org /specialdocs/evolutiondebate.asp (4244 words)

	CB601.2.5: Light peppered moths increased before trees got lighter
		This raises questions about the accuracy of the classical theory that changes to the population of the peppered moth were brought about by natural selection resulting from bird predation.
		A preliminary analysis of the treatment of evolution in biology textbooks currently being considered for adoption by the Texas State Board of Education.
		It is a stronger version of claim that light peppered moths increased before lichens (CB601.2.4), for which the balance of evidence already seems unpersuasive (see the response to that claim).
	www.talkorigins.org /indexcc/CB/CB601_2_5.html (213 words)

	Creation-Evolution Headlines
		Instead of explaining how mutation and natural selection could produce a Monarch butterfly or a finch or a peppered moth in the first place, scientific papers on evolution seem obsessed with trying to uncover phylogenetic relationships that are impossible to calculate objectively or verify independently without begging the question whether common ancestry is even true.
		There is not one postulate of evolution that we have not shown, from the best evolutionary sources themselves, to be other than vaporware or tall-tale telling, when examined in detail under the baloney detector.
		The peppered moth Biston betularia is an icon of evolution, decorating nearly every high school biology textbook as a classic case of natural selection.
	www.creationsafaris.com /crev0702.htm (16728 words)

	Evolution & the Nature of Change
		Evolution, a term that is often controversial in public forums on education, is a term that simply means "change occurs." Looking around at the world, one can quickly assess that very few things remain unchanged from computer design to clothes and hairstyles.
		The last two sections deal with the evolution of HIV drug resistance, which serves as an example of how evolution, adaptation, and diversity occur.
		Evolution is a process of change that can occur over millions of years (macroevolution) or over a few weeks (microevolution).
	www.unc.edu /~brybar/evolutionmodule/evolvewebsite.htm (753 words)

	Peppered Moth "Evolution" (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		The "peppered moth" example is probably the best known, or most often cited proof of "evolution is action".
		As explained by Menton: "The Peppered moth (Biston betularia) is typically a whitish moth covered with fl spots.
		In a much touted study in England it was found that when the white trees, on which the moths rested, became dark from industrial pollution, birds ate more of the lighter moths (missing the darker ones).
	emporium.turnpike.net /C/cs/basics/sld014.htm (292 words)

	Recent Problems in Evolution - 1999
		The emerging revisionist view of eukaryotic evolution is a scenario characterized by a massive and virtually simultaneous radiation (big bang) at the base of the eukaryotic tree, involving virtually all extant eukaryotic phyla (34).
		Instead of postulating the obvious (that the human genome is not as old as evolution would teach), evolutionists again are relying upon the improbable to retain the evolutionary paradigm.
		The "evolution" of the peppered moth, Biston betularia, whose story is recounted in almost every textbook on evolution, now appears to be based upon spurious data.
	www.godandscience.org /evolution/evol1999.html (3527 words)

	[Regents Prep Living Environment] Evolution: Natural Selection
		the dark colored variety of the moth blended into the trees and increased in numbers, while the light colored moth was less adapted and decreased in numbers
		Insecticides kill insects not resistant to the insecticide, while insects resistant to the insecticide live to reproduce.
		Evolution does not necessarily mean long term progress is going to go in a certain direction.
	regentsprep.org /Regents/biology/units/evolution/selection.cfm (808 words)

	evolution (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-01)
		Evolution has become the primary unifying concept of biology
		Inheritance of Acquired Characters (Lamarkism): "Basis of evolution was the conscious striving of the organism for perfection."
		Any traits acquired during an organisms lifetime could be passed on to their offspring
	www.bsu.edu /classes/ruch/Bio111/evolution.html (524 words)

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