Name: _______________________

Accel Bio
The Perplexing Peppered Moths 
The photographs below are of ​Biston betularia​, a species of moth known as the “Peppered moth.”

In moths, wing color is a ​heritable trait.

● Heritable traits​ are characteristics that vary within a species and can be inherited by offspring.

1. Is each of the following a heritable trait or not?

● _____ Having wide hips (bone structure, not body fat)

● _____ Hair color when it has been artificially dyed

● _____ Higher-than-average levels of testosterone, present from birth

● _____ High muscle mass from working out a lot

● _____ The ability to digest lactose after childhood

We now know that heritable traits are ones with a genetic basis.

2. What is it called when a trait is controlled by many genes? ____________________________

3. How would you describe the range of phenotypes that typically result from such a trait?

In moths, however, wing color is a trait​ ​that follows simple Mendelian inheritance patterns. There are
only two phenotypes for wing color: speckled (“peppered”) and black. If any two speckled moths mate,
they will always produce only speckled moths.

4. Which allele (speckled or black) is dominant for the trait of wing color? _________________

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In 1848, only 2% of the moths in a certain ​population​ were black.
● Population​: all the members of a species that live in a defined geographic region at a given time.

5. Write out the 8 levels of the hierarchy of life, and circle where “population” falls.

6. Which ​phenotype​ was dominant (i.e. most prevalent) in the population in 1848? ________________

7. Based on your answers to #4 and #5, is the following statement true or false? Why or why not?
“The dominant allele is the one that is most common in the population.”

8. How do you think the first black moth appeared? Where did it get its black allele from if all of the
moths at that time were speckled?

9. Which organisms, the speckled moths or the black moths, do you think were more ​fit ​in 1848? Why?
● Fitness​: the success of an organism in passing on its genes to offspring relative to other members
of its population at a particular time.

10. What do you think made that type of moth more fit? Alternatively, what other sort of information
would you want to know to answer the previous question?

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Background on the Peppered Moth & Their Environment

11. Name at least 4 factors that make up an organism’s ​environment​.

● Environment: ​all the non-living AND living factors that surround an organism or population and
can affect their survival or development

Adult moths eat nectar from flowers, as well as tree sap, bird droppings, and rotten fruit. Their main
predator is birds, with the occasional bat or owl. When the moths are not flying around, they will often
rest on tree branches, tree trunks, on rocks. Occasionally they will rest on or under twigs.

The population of moths that we have been discussing was located near Manchester, England. In 1848,
the vegetation that was common to the area looked like this:

Trees with light-colored bark were common (see left), as were lichens,
which grew on trees and rocks (see above).

12. Given the information above, return to the original question: which color of moth, speckled or black,
was better suited to its environment? Why?

13. ​Did “fitness” have anything to do with being stronger or faster in this case?
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As has been stated, in 1848, it is estimated that about 98% of the moths in Manchester were speckled,
while only about 2% were black. However, by 1898, the population of black moths in Manchester had
increased to about 95%!

14. Come up with a potential explanation for how and why this shift might have happened. Is there any
information you would want to know in order to answer this question?

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During the 1800s, the Industrial Revolution
was occurring in Europe and America. The
Industrial Revolution was accompanied by the
building of many factories that whose main
fuel source was coal. Burning coal to produce
energy releases large amounts of smoke and
smog into the environment, and this soot can
collect on the surfaces of building and trees,
making the buildings and trees darker in color
and killing many of the lichens.

The figure at the right shows how pollution

spread from urban centers and changed the
color of trees in the forests of the surrounding
areas. Note where Manchester is.

You can also see what the moths looked like in

their old environment (below, left) and the
new environment (below, right).

15. In this new environment, which color moth was more fit? Why?

16. Given your answers to #9 and #15, are characteristics that increase fitness necessarily the same
across time and environments?

17. Can an individual moth change its wing color to become better suited to its environment?

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On the website <​pepperedmoths.weebly.com​> you will find a simulation that will allow you to play the
role of a bird preying on moths. Click on the circle labeled “Bird’s Eye View” (the one at the bottom right).
This simulation assumes a starting population of moths that is 50% speckled and 50% black.

18. If we assume a linear increase in the percentage of black moths from 2% in 1848 to 95% in 1898, in
roughly what year might a 50/50 split have actually been the case?

Run the “Light Forest” simulation first and note the final % of black moths at the end. Record it in the
table below. Then run the “Dark Forest” simulation and record the final % black moths. Finally, add both
of these values to whiteboard at the front of the class so that we can collect group data.

19. Why is it important/accurate to use the class average instead of your own trial?

Initial % Black Moths Final % Black Moths Average Final % Black

Moths (class data)

Light forest 50

Dark forest 50

20 Let’s focus on the Dark Forest simulation. ​Just because dark moths were better suited to their
environment, did that guarantee they would survive (i.e., did you eat ​any​ dark moths)? Likewise, did ​any
of the speckled moths survive?

21. In the dark forest environment, which color moth was ​more likely​ to survive, mate, and have
offspring?

22. ​Are the dark moths ​guaranteed ​to pass on the advantageous dark allele to their offspring?​ Why or
why not?

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The process you just explored is called ​natural selection​.
● Natural selection: ​the process through which the traits that confer a reproductive advantage to
individual organisms grow more common in populations of organisms over successive
generations

23. What does it mean for a trait to confer a reproductive advantage?

Natural Selection is believed to be the mechanism by which ​adaptation​ occurs.

● Adaptation:​ a modification in the form, physical functioning, or behavior of organisms in a
population over generations in response to environmental change

24. Refer back to question #17 to help you consider the question: What is wrong with the following
statement?
“Evolution is organisms adapting to their environment”

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In 1956, the Clean Air Act was passed in response to the large amounts of smog in the UK. The graph
below shows the change in coal use in the UK over time.

25. What happened to coal use after the Clean Air Act was introduced?

26. What do you think happened to moths’ environment as a result of this?

27. Which color of moth would have been more likely to survive and leave offspring? _______________

28. Do you think the frequency of the dark allele in the moth population is ​higher​ or ​lower​ today than it
was in the early 1900s?

29. How did humans impact evolution with regard to the peppered moths?

30. Which of the following statements do you believe is more accurate? Why?
A) “A single organism does not evolve. Evolution occurs at the population level ​over a long time​.”
B) “A single organism does not evolve. Evolution occurs at the population level ​over many generations​.”