Evolution Of Moth Research Paper

Words: 1180
Pages: 5

There are about 160,000 species of moth worldwide and yet will be discovered .This moth comprise a group of insects related to butterflies .It is Kingdom Animalia under phylum Arthrpoda .Eventhough ,butterflies and moth are quite same but still there is a slightly differences between them . Moths evolved long before butterflies . Some moths can be major agricultural pests in many parts of the world ,particularly the caterpillars and during temperate climates, mostly of the moth causes extensive damage, especially to fruit farms. Moth larvae may be killed by freezing the items which they infest for several days at a temperature below −8 °C (18 °F) .

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How did the peppered moth evolved ?The evolution of the moth is an evolutionary
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The concept refers to an increase in the number of dark-coloured moths due to industrial population, and a reciprocal decrease in the population in a clean environment. Hence, the phenomenon is called industrial melanism. the frequency of the dark-coloured type was found to have increased drastically . By the end of the 19th century it almost completely outnumbered the original light-coloured type .
Those individuals who possess superior physical, behavioral, or other attributes are more likely to survive than those which are not so well endowed which is the theory of Natural Selection . Those organisms that survive are more likely to produce offspring with the same advantages for survival thus increasing the population of the organism. An organism that produces a large number of offspring is seemed to be really fit .For example ,the Peppered Moth species which is a well-documented study in demonstrating the value of camouflage in Natural Selection with the continuing process of evolution. This case involves two variations of the same organism, a white-colored phenotype and a black-colored phenotype
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The dark phenotype is controlled by a dominant allele , which means that a moth will possessing at least one such allele will have a dark body. Each individual have alleles which one is from each of its parents .In order to have a light body, the moth must have both alleles for light body colour . Prior to the industrial revolution, 99% of the moth population was comprised by the white moths and it were protected by their ability to blend with the light-coloured lichens which is lived on the bark of trees . The black moths were visible against the light background and hence more susceptible to being eaten by birds or other species. However ,in fact, the dark moths only comprised 1% of the population. Consequently, the black variety did not have such a great chance to reproduce and increase their numbers in population . The white variation was more fit compared to the black one . Thus , the frequency of the dark allele was very low which is about .001%, maintained primarily by spontaneous mutation from light to dark alleles