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The researchers let inchworm moths of two species Jankowskia fuscaria and Hypomycis roboraria ; Fig. Many moths did not remain at the spot of landing. They walked around with stretched wings as if they were looking for that one perfect spot that may make them invisible to predators. To determine whether this final spot indeed made the moth really invisible, the researchers photographed each moth at its landing spot initial spot and at the final spot at which the moth decided to rest. Next, the researchers asked people to try to locate the moth from the photograph as quickly as possible.
People had more difficulty finding the moths at their final spots than the same moths at their initial landing spots. Amazingly, this was even true for the species Hypomecis roboraria that only changed its resting spot on the tree bark without changing its body orientation. Therefore, the researchers concluded, that moths seems to actively choose the spot that makes them invisible to predators.
How do they know how to become invisible? The research team is now trying to answer this question as the next step.
Pollution drives natural selection
To see a movie of the 'positioning behavior' of moths go to: The original scientific report is here: Jablonski, , Camouflage through an active choice of a resting spot and body orientation in moths. A typical place for them to hide is on trees, and the more common white morph tends to blend in better with the white bark birch trees in England than their black counterparts.
Throughout the industrial revolution, people noticed that white moths became much rarer while black moths became much more common. Bernard Kettlewell, a research fellow at the University of Oxford, was among the first to investigate this puzzling change in abundance.
Camouflage of moths: Secrets to invisibility revealed | EurekAlert! Science News
He conducted an elegant set of experiments during the s to test whether the soot and pollution from industrialisation made it easier for black moths to blend in with their newly dirty surroundings, while white moths were less able to blend in and more vulnerable to predation by birds.
He conducted a series of observations, fieldwork and aviary experiments, and found that his data fit his predictions: Similar to Kettlewell, he used a combination of natural history observations and a series of field experiments which are among the most substantial of their kind ever completed. His experiments were conducted at an unpolluted site, which led to the prediction that white moths should be eaten less than black moths.
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His results were exactly what were expected: Unfortunately, while he presented his work at a conference, he did not live to publish them. The work was published by Cook and co-authors in Together, their work comprises perhaps the most elegant example of natural selection in the world. Pets in Victorian paintings — Egham, Surrey.
Peppered moth evolution
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The classic peppered moth. One of two colours The peppered moth is found throughout Eurasia and North America and can be either white or black.
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Pollution drives natural selection Throughout the industrial revolution, people noticed that white moths became much rarer while black moths became much more common. A black morph peppered moth. Jerzy Strzelecki He conducted a series of observations, fieldwork and aviary experiments, and found that his data fit his predictions: