Industrial melanism is an adaptation where the moths living in the industrial areas developed melanism pigments to match their body to the tree trunks. The occurrence of industrial melanism is closely associated with the progress of the industrial revolution in Great Britain, during the nineteenth century.

Before the industrial revolution, peppered moth (Biston betularia) existed in two strains : light coloured (white) and melanic (black). The bark of trees was covered by which lichens, so white moths escaped unnoticed from predatory birds, on the contrary, the black coloured were conspicuous and were easy victims for the predatory birds, hence they were rare. After industrialistion, the bark got covered by smoke, so the white moths were selectively picked up by birds. But black moths escaped unnoticed so they managed to survive resulting in more population of black moths and less population of white moths.

Thus industrial melanism supports evolution by natural selection