Disruptive or diversifying selection is a form of natural selection that favors phenotypes on the extreme ends of the trait/characteristic spectrum over intermediate phenotypes.
This occurs in environments where two extreme traits are the fittest to survive and successfully produce offspring.
London's peppered moths are one of the most prominent examples of disruptive selection. The rural environment favored moths with lighter colour but the darker coloured moths were easily spotted by predators.
On the other hand, industrial areas favored darker coloured moths as they could easily camouflage in the polluted surroundings. Here, the lighter moths were the ones to be easily spotted by predators.
However, moths of intermediate shades were easily spotted in both environments as they couldn't camouflage easily.
