I've always wondered about moths being captured by streetlights. I figure that those moths are less likely to reproduce, since they are bashing their heads against a hot lamp, and are also picked off by bats all night long.

So, if there were a genetic component to their dependence on light for night flying orientation, could a mutation emerge that might reduce that dependence? That might allow a subset of moths to escape the artificial light. Such a mutation would reduce flight efficiency at night, since the moth may also not be well-oriented by the moon, and so would tumble in flight.

It might be useful to collect "country" moths and "city" moths, and test them for the ability to escape from strong artificial lights. One could then try cross-breeding them to find out if the variation is an inherited trait. If so, the genetic source of the variation might be found.

I think I once posted this question here on Reddit somewhere, and and alert reader gave me a link to a paper on the subject. It turns out that there are variations in light orientation dependence between moths that live in the city and those that live out in the darker countryside. I do not recall where I left the article, but I will try to find it .

In any case, there are selective pressures that are kind of associated with the presence of modern humans and our impact on the environment which have an impact on the behavior or morphology of different living things, and which may lead to a level of diversity that could be considered the emergence of a new species.

I believe there's also some work being done on the genetics of rats that live in the city, and how genetic variance may have behavioral adaptations which are more advantageous in an urban environment.