mimicry

Imitation of one species (or group of species) by another. The most common form is Batesian mimicry (named after English naturalist H W Bates), where the mimic resembles a model that is poisonous or unpleasant to eat, and has aposematic, or warning, coloration; the mimic thus benefits from the fact that predators have learned to avoid the model. Hoverflies that resemble bees or wasps are an example. Appearance is usually the basis for mimicry, but calls, songs, scents, and other signals can also be mimicked.

In Mullerian mimicry, two or more equally poisonous or distasteful species have a similar colour pattern, thereby reinforcing the warning each gives to predators. The evolutionary benefit for the species involved is that they share the cost of ‘predator learning’, and thus reduce the number of events in which a predator harms one of their own. In 2005, British researchers demonstrated an additional benefit, namely that the predators learn more rapidly if two or more different kinds of unpalatable substances are coupled with the same warning sign.

In some cases, mimicry is not for protection, but allows the mimic to prey on, or parasitize, the model.