Latest 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 has shown that boosting the estrogen levels of male garter snakes causes them to secrete the same pheromones that females use to attract suitors, and turned the males into just about the sexiest snake in the neighborhood – attracting dozens of other males eager to mate. This experiment in the famed garter snake caverns of Manitoba, Canada, was one of the first in a field setting to ever quantify the effects of estrogen as a stimulant of pheromones, scientists said, in...
[ Watch the Video ] The remarkable mimic octopus (Thaumoctopus mimicus), inhabiting the coast of Sulawesi in Indonesia, swims with relatively little fear of predators in the ocean with its remarkable ability to shift its shape, movements and colors to impersonate toxic lionfish, flatfish and even sea snakes. Recently discovered hanging out with this great mimic is the black-marble jawfish (Stalix histrio). Researcher and ichthyologist Luiz Rocha, from the California Academy of Sciences...
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...
Natural selection has played a role in the development of the many skins patterns of the tiny Ranitomeya imitator poison dart frog, according to a study that will be published in an upcoming edition of American Naturalist by University of Montreal biologist Mathieu Chouteau. The researcher's methodology was rather unusual: on three occasions over three days, at two different sites, Chouteau investigated the number of attacks that had been made on fake frogs, by counting how many times that...
Asking white people to mirror the movements of a black person lowers their levels of implicit prejudice New research shows that you can reduce racial prejudice simply by having a person mimic the movements of a member of the race he or she is prejudiced against. The method may work by activating brain mechanisms that contribute to feelings of empathy. Normally, when we watch another person perform an action, our brain activity changes as we mentally simulate the other person. But the...
The mystery of how a butterfly has changed its wing patterns to mimic neighboring species and avoid being eaten by birds has been solved by a team of European scientists. The study was published August 14, 2011 in the journal Nature.The greatest evolutionary thinkers, including Wallace, Bates and Darwin, have all wondered how butterflies that taste bad to birds have evolved the same patterns of warning coloration. Now for the first time, researchers led by the CNRS (Muséum National...
Mothers have a stronger tendency to mimic their daughters' consumption behavior than vice versaHow much do our children influence our consumption behavior? Much more than we thought.A new study by a Temple University Fox School of Business professor finds that teenage girls have a strong influence on the products their mothers buy solely for personal use, as in makeup or clothing, and that mothers have a much stronger tendency to mimic their daughters' consumption behavior than vice...
Red may mean STOP or I LOVE YOU! A red splash on a toxic butterfly's wing screams DON'T EAT ME! In nature, one toxic butterfly species may mimic the wing pattern of another toxic species in the area. By using the same signal, they send a stronger message: DON'T EAT US!Now several research teams that include Smithsonian scientists in Panama, have discovered that Heliconius butterflies mimic each other's red wing patterns through changes in the same gene.Not only does this gene lead to the same...
Researchers find single gene controls mimicry across different speciesFor 150 years scientists have been trying to explain convergent evolution. One of the best-known examples of this is how poisonous butterflies from different species evolve to mimic each other's color patterns "“ in effect joining forces to warn predators, "Don't eat us," while spreading the cost of this lesson.Now an international team of researchers led by Robert Reed, UC Irvine assistant professor of ecology...
Latest Mimicry Reference Libraries
Combtooth blennies are blennioids; perciform marine fish of the family Blenniidae. They are the largest family of blennies, with approximately 371 species in 53 genera represented. Combtooth blennies are found in tropical and subtropical waters in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans; some species are also found in brackish and even freshwater environments. Physical description The body plan of the Combtooth blennies is archetypal to all other blennioids; their blunt heads and eyes...
Flower-flies (also known as hover-flies) are a family of flies (Diptera), with the scientific name of "Syrphidae". As their names suggests, they are most often seen around flowers. The adults feed mainly on nectar and pollen, while the larvae (maggots) eat a wide range of foods. In certain species, the larvae are saprophytes, eating decaying plant and animal matter in the soil or in ponds and streams. In others, the larvae are insectivores and prey on aphids, thrips, and other...
The Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) is a well-known North American butterfly with easily identifiable orange and black wings. The females have darker veins on their wings, and the males have a spot in the center of each hindwing from which pheromones are released. Monarchs are especially noted for their lengthy annual migration. They make massive southward migrations from August through October. A northward migration takes place in the spring. During these migrations the females...
