Bio lab report

Title : Natural seletion the peppered moths

Objective: Simulate changes in moth population due to pollution and predation,
and observe how species can change over time.
Introduction :
The Peppered Moth is widespread in Britain and Ireland and frequently found in
ordinary back gardens, yet its amazing story has made it famous all over the
world. It is one of the best known examples of evolution by natural selection,
Darwin's great discovery, and is often referred to as 'Darwin's moth'.

Peppered Moths are normally white with black speckles across the wings, giving
it its name. This patterning makes it well camouflaged against lichen-covered
tree trunks when it rests on them during the day. There is also a naturally
occurring genetic mutation which causes some moths to have almost black
wings. These black forms (called 'melanic') are not as well camouflaged on the
lichen as normal 'peppered' forms and so they are more likely to be eaten by
birds and other predators. This means that fewer black forms survive to breed
and 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 nineteenth century it was noticed that in towns and cities it was
actually the black form of the moth that was more common than the pale
peppered form. Industrialisation and domestic coal fires had caused sooty air
pollution which had killed off lichens and blackened urban tree trunks and walls.
So now it was the pale form of the moth that was more obvious to predators,
while the melanic form was better camouflaged and more likely to survive and
produce offspring. As a result, over successive generations, the black moths
came to outnumber the pale forms in our towns and cities. Since moths are
short-lived, this evolution by natural selection happened quite quickly. For
example, the first black Peppered Moth was recorded in Manchester in 1848 and
by 1895 , 98% of Peppered Moths in the city were black.

In the mid-twentieth century controls were introduced to reduce air pollution and
as the air quality improved tree trunks became cleaner and lichen growth
increased. Once again the normal pale Peppered Moths were camouflaged and
the black forms were more noticeable. Now the situation in urban areas has
again become the same as in the countryside, with normal pale Peppered Moths
being far more common than the black forms. So natural selection has been seen
to work in both directions, always favouring the moth that is best suited to the
environmental conditions.

Discusiion :
Results :

Questions :
1. A peppered moth.
2. A black moth.
3. Peppered moths would have higher population. On a peppered background,
the pale typical moths were well-camouflaged and not easily caught by birds so
more peppered moths survived to breed and pass on their genes and peppered
moths became more common.
8. In a habitat there are red bugs and green bugs. The birds prefer the taste of
the red bugs, so soon there are many green bugs and few red bugs. The green
bugs reproduce and make more green bugs and eventually there are no more
red bugs.
In an ecosystem, some giraffes have long necks and others have short ones. If
something caused low-lying shrubs to die out, the giraffes with short necks would
not get enough food. After a few generations, all the giraffes would have long
necks.

Butterfly conservation n.d., Peppered moth and natural selction , viewed 25

September 2015,
http://www.mothscount.org/text/63/peppered_moth_and_natural_selection.html