Peppered moth
The peppered moth is white with black speckles, as if someone sprinkled pepper over its wings. It flies at night and rests high up in trees during the day. Some peppered moths are so dark that they look almost black.
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Fun facts
Its caterpillar looks exactly like a little twig, green or brown.
The caterpillar can feel the colour of the twig with its skin and slowly change its own colour to match.
Males fly every night of their lives looking for a female, but females fly only on their first night.
A female lays about 2,000 tiny pale green eggs in cracks in the bark.
Scientists all over the world study the light and dark peppered moths to learn how animals change over many generations.
Most asked questions about Peppered moth
?Why is it called the peppered moth?
Because its white wings are sprinkled with black speckles, like pepper.
?How big is a peppered moth?
Its wings are about 4.5 to 6 centimetres across.
?Why are some peppered moths black?
Moths can be lighter or darker. Light ones hide best on trees covered in pale lichen, and dark ones hide best on plain dark bark.
For bug experts
- Scientific name
- Biston betularia
- Group
- Moths
- Family
- Geometridae
- Classification
- Insecta > Lepidoptera > Geometridae
- Lives on
- Europe, Asia, North America
Where the facts come from
- Peppered moth (Wikipedia, CC BY-SA 4.0): what it looks like, where it lives, what it eats, sizes and fun facts, retold in simple words.
- Picture by Cyndy Sims Parr. CC BY-SA 2.0, Wikimedia Commons. The round sticker of this bug is cut from the same picture.
If we got something wrong, sorry, we are bug fans, not a science journal. Tell us at [email protected] and we will fix it.
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