Peppered Moths

Peppered moths are from England. The moth starts out as a caterpillar. Then it builds a cocoon, and turns into a moth. Peppered moths can be black or white in color. Peppered moths live on trees. They are good at hiding on the tree bark. Birds and bats like to eat moths.

A moth starts out as a caterpillar:

Peppered moths can be black or white:

Peppered moths live on trees:

Birds eat moths:

Industrial Revolution

In the year 1800, the country of England started to change. People started making new machines to make clothes. The new machines burned coal. The machines made lots of smoke. There was so much smoke that it made the houses turn black. Even the trees turned black. This changed the environment for animals.

Fabric machine:

Factories making smoke:

Black tree from smoke:

Changing Moths

J.W. Tutt was a scientist from England. He liked to learn about moths. He counted the number of moths on the trees. He was surprised. He started to see more and more black moths. He also noticed that the trees were starting to turn black. He decided to learn more about what was happening.

Moths on a tree: