Study
Selection experiments on industrial melanism in the Lepidoptera
Kettlewell, H. Bernard D.
Heredity, 1955
Released marked pale and melanic peppered moths in polluted woodland near Birmingham and in unpolluted woodland in Dorset, recaptured them, and separately filmed birds taking moths placed on tree trunks.
- Studied in
- Biston betularia
- Sample size
- marked moths released and recaptured in polluted and unpolluted woodland
Melanic moths were recaptured at higher rates in the polluted wood and pale moths at higher rates in the unpolluted wood, and birds were directly observed taking the form that contrasted more with the trunk.
What it means
The authors' reading, and ours. Where they differ, that difference is the point.
How the authors put it
Differential bird predation on the two forms, driven by how well each matches its background, explains the rise of melanism in industrial areas.
How NatureHQ reads it
The founding experiment, and the one every textbook simplifies. It is genuinely good work that reached the right answer, and the methods drew serious and largely fair criticism decades later — which is why NatureHQ presents it as the first of three stages rather than as the whole story.
- Moths were often released in daylight and in unnaturally high densities, and were sometimes placed on exposed trunk surfaces.
- Where peppered moths naturally rest was not well established at the time, and the trunk assumption later proved to be wrong more often than not.
What this study is used for on NatureHQ
One study can inform several subjects. Here is everywhere this one is cited.
Published by: Nature PortfolioPublished in a Nature Portfolio journal.
Checked against Crossref on 2026-09-28, and they agree on the title, the authors and the year.
NatureHQ summarises research in its own words and does not reproduce published text. Reviewed 2026-09-03.