Peppered Moth

The lab moth trap has been working well at the moment.

Regular readers will know I quite regularly find all manner of moths in the lab when I turn up at 6am. We've had quite a few hawkmoths in there, including my favourite, the Elephant Hawkmoth.

This lovely little Pepper Moth had settled down on some scrap paper.

Creationists look away now.

The fascinating thing about the Pepper Moth is it is one of the best examples of natural selection there is. It comes in three distinct colours, light, dark and this mottled variety.

This variety thrives in wooded areas as does the light version. The dark version is almost black, and survives predominantly in industrial areas, where it can camouflage itself on sooty walls.

I feel deeply humbled by all your comments, hearts, stars and spotlight for yesterday's 365th blip. I would like to thank you from the bottom of my heart! Thank you!