You have studied the story of Pepper moths in England. Had the industries been removed, what impact could it have on the moth population? Discuss.

• Pepper moths had two variants– dark and light coloured moths.

• In England, before industrialisation, it was observed that there were more white-winged moths than dark-winged or melanised moths. This was because the tree bark was covered with white lichens and white wings of the moth helped them in camouflaging. So they went unnoticed by predators and survived whereas dark-winged moths were easily visible to the predators that ate them.

• But after industrialisation, there were more dark-winged moths in the same area.

• This happened because in the post industrialisation period, the lichens did not survive due to increased pollution.

• Soot covered the tree trunks making them dark.

• This made the white-winged moth more visible to the predators that now picked them up instead of the dark moths. The dark moths were now able to camouflage because of the dark tree drunks.

• Now, had the industries be removed, the pollution level would have gone down, allowing lichen to grow back and the number of white winged moths would have gone up again.