Page 544 - Atlas of Creation Volume 3

ONCE, THERE WAS THE STORY OF

PEPPERED MOTHS

iston betularia, a moth species of the family Geometridae, is perhaps one of the most celebrated species
of the insect world, and its fame is due to the fact that it was the main so-called "observed example"
B of evolution since Darwin.
There are two known variants of Biston betularia. The widespread light-colored type called Biston betu-

laria f. typica is a light gray color, with small dark spots that lends it its common name, "the peppered moth."
In the mid-19th century, a second variant was observed: dark in color, almost black, it was named Biston be-
tularia carbonaria. The Latin word carbonaria means coal-colored. The same type is also called "melanic,"
which means dark-colored.

In 19th-century England, the dark moths became prevalent, and this coloration was given the name
melanism. Based on this, Darwinists composed a myth that they would use consistently for at least a cen-
tury, claiming that it was a most important proof of evolution at work. This myth found its place in nearly
all biology textbooks, encyclopedia articles, museums, media coverage and documentary films about

Darwinism.
The myth's narrative can be summed up as follows: At the beginning of the Industrial Revolution, in
Manchester and other predominantly industrial areas, the bark on the trees was light in color. For this rea-
son, darker, melanic moths landed on these trees could easily be seen by the birds that preyed on them, so

that their life expectancy was very short. But 50 years later, as a result of industrial pollution, the light-col-
ored lichens that lived on bark died off and the bark itself became blackened by soot. Now predators could
easily spot the light-colored moths. As a result, the number of light-colored moths decreased, while the
dark-colored melanic forms, harder to notice on the trees, survived to reproduce.

Evolutionists resorted to the deception that this process was a major proof for their theory; and that
over time, light-colored moths had "evolved" into a darker-colored type. According to Darwinist literature,
this was evolution in action.
Today, however, like the other classic Darwinist myths, this one has been discredited. In order to un-

derstand why, we must look at how the story developed.

Kettlewell's Glued Moths

The thesis that the melanic form of peppered moths appeared and multiplied in England because of the
Industrial Revolution began to be discussed even while Darwin was alive. In the first half of the 20th cen-
tury, it remained current only as an opinion, because there was not a single scientific experiment or obser-

vation to prove it. In 1953, H.B.D. Kettlewell, a Darwinist medical doctor and amateur biologist, decided to
conduct a series of experiments to supply the missing proof, and went out into the English countryside, the
habitat of peppered moths. He released a similar number of light and dark peppered moths and observed
how many of each type the birds preyed. He determined that more dark-colored moths were taken by
predators from the light lichen-covered trees.

In 1959, Kettlewell published his findings in an article entitled "Darwin's Missing Evidence" in the evo-
lutionist magazine Scientific American. The article caused a great stir in the world of Darwinism. Biologists
congratulated Kettlewell for substantiating so-called "evolution in action." Photographs showing

542 Atlas of Creation Vol. 3