[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.

[Junior]

But how does it obviate the result of the study that moth populations in industrial areas were darker than moth populations in non-industrial areas?

[jennyp]

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.

Moths hang out in a lot of places. IIRC, the most likely place to find moths was at the underside of trunk/branch joints, high up in the tree. In every tree I've ever seen, a trunk/branch joint looks just like the trunk nearby.

That, coupled with the fact that dead moths don't change color, makes your "it's all a HOAX!" charge fall apart, IMO.