How so? IMO it addresses Wells' disinformation piece rather nicely.
The initial charge stands, even though the article tries to dance around it. Exposed bark is key to the study.
Which initial charge? That peppered moths never rest on tree trunks?
Well, that's not true. They do rest (occasionally) on tree trunks. They also rest (more often) on branches or twigs which are also covered with bark that in turn has also been darkened with a layer of sooth. And they don't have to rest on exposed bark in order to be seen by birds. If birds were that bad at detecting prey they'd have died out a long time ago.
However, it's also true that they can spot the light moths better than the dark ones which means that on average they eat more light moths than dark ones.
Those staged photos were only taken to illustrate the detectability of lighter and darker moths. The fact that those photos were staged doesn't change the fact that the lighter moths are better to spot than their darker brethren no matter where they rest.
Could you tell me where the evidence of mutation can be found in the peppered moth? If the dark moths were already in the population then the slection was simply environmentally directed. The birds liked white meat ans since white meat shows up better against dark trees, the light moths got the horns, no?