[Junior]

How does staging a photo make the story a hoax? Did you expect the photographer to stake out a tree and wait for a moth to land on it? Population surveys in industrial areas had shown the dark-colored moth prevalent and in non-industrial areas the light-clored moth was prevalent. Them's the facts. You take the untenable position that a staged photograph that illustrates the study obviates the results of the study. That's like saying the results of crash tests obviate the knowledge of actual crashes.

[Aquinasfan]

How does staging a photo make the story a hoax?

Because the moths hang out under leaves. They don't hang out on tree trunks. That's why it had to be glued there.