Peppered moth

This article is about the insect. For the Margaret Drabble novel, see The Peppered Moth.

Peppered moth
Male
Female
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Clade:	Pancrustacea
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Lepidoptera
Family:	Geometridae
Genus:	Biston
Species:	B. betularia
Binomial name
Biston betularia Linnaeus, 1758
Subspecies
B. b. alexandrina (Wehrli, 1941) B. b. betularia B. b. cognataria (Guenée, 1857) B. b. contrasta (Barnes & Benjamin, 1923) B. b. parva (Leech, 1897) B. b. nepalensis (Inoue, 1982)
Synonyms
Phalaena (Geometra) betularia Linnaeus, 1758 Phalaena (Noctua) p-graecum (Poda, 1761) marmoraria (Sepp, 1792) Phalaena (Geometra) ulmaria (Borkhausen, 1794) Eubyja betularia Amphidasis huberaria (Ballion, 1866) Amphidasys betularia var. doubledayaria (Millière, 1870) Eurbyjodonta concinna (Warren, 1899) Biston cognataria alexandrina (Wehrli, 1941) Biston (Eubyjodonta) huberaria (tienschana Wehrli, 1941) Biston cognataria sinitibetica (Wehrli, 1941)

The peppered moth (Biston betularia) is a moth of the family Geometridae. It is night flying, and found mainly in temperate regions of the northern hemisphere. Peppered moth evolution is an example of population genetics and natural selection.

The caterpillars of the peppered moth not only mimic the form but also the colour of a twig. Recent research indicates that the caterpillars can sense the twig's colour with their skin and match their body colour to the background to protect themselves from predators.