The reason for the survival of the melanised moth, during the post-industrialization period in England was:
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → The melanised moth camouflage with the tree trunks that became dark due to the deposition of industrial smoke and soot so that melanised moth remain unnoticed by predators.
In England, collections made in the 1850s had more white-winged moths, while those made in 1920 from the same area had more dark-winged (melanised) moths. This is an example of natural selection, and the selecting force was the bird predators.
Option (1) The melanised moth camouflage with the tree trunks that became dark due to the deposition of industrial smoke and soot so that melanised moth remain unnoticed by predators. — Correct. Predators spot a moth against a contrasting background. On soot-darkened trunks the white moths stood out and were eaten, while the dark moths blended with the bark and survived to breed.
Option (2) Melanised moth were able to tolerate and adapted to the high pollution level due to industrialization where as white winged moth were not able to adapt the high pollution level. — Incorrect. The moths did not survive by bearing the pollution. Both kinds were present before industrialisation; the difference lay in how easily predators could see them.
Option (3) The lichens on the tree trunk were food only for the white winged moth and due to industrialisation lichens vanished and thus white winged moth died due to the scarcity of the food and melanised moth got survived. — Incorrect. The lichens were a background, not food. Before industrialisation, white lichens covered the trunks and hid the white moths. Lichens do not grow in polluted areas, so they serve as indicators of industrial pollution.
Option (4) Melanised moth were naturally selected and fittest to survive where white winged were not. — Incorrect. This only repeats the result: the dark moths survived. It does not give the reason the question asks for, which is the camouflage of the dark moths against the dark trunks.
NCERT Extract:
What Are the Evidences for Evolution? – …
