Latest Batesian mimicry Stories

Mimicry in the animal kingdom is a useful tool that many insects employ to make themselves appear more fierce in order to escape from becoming a meal. However, researchers have been puzzled as to how some of the worst mimickers still seem to escape certain demise. Researchers at Carleton University in Ottawa, Canada set out to find the nature of mimicry in one of these imperfect impersonators: the hoverfly. Some hoverflies have evolved to be nearly indistinguishable from bees and wasps,...

A new study in the current issue of The Annals of the Entomological Society of America helps scientists better understand how organisms depend upon one another In the world of insects, high risk of attack has led to the development of camouflage as a means for survival, especially in the larval stage. One caterpillar may look like a stick, while another disguises itself as bird droppings. Though crypsis may have its advantages, University of Florida researchers uncovered some of the most...

How two butterfly species have evolved exactly the same striking wing color and pattern has intrigued biologists since Darwin's day. Now, scientists at Cambridge have found "hotspots" in the butterflies' genes that they believe will explain one of the most extraordinary examples of mimicry in the natural world.Heliconius, or passion-vine butterflies, live in the Americas "“ from the southern United States to southern South America. Although they cannot interbreed, H. melpomene and...