Mimicry
Mim-ic-ry. (n.pl) 1. The practice or act of copying. 2. Biology-When one organism resembles another for protection, or to conceal itself in the environment.
ww.thefreedictionary.com
Batesian Mimicry[]
A harmless, palatable organism forms a resemblance to a dangerous or noxious organism to act as a warning signal. The mimic gains protection from predators based on its appearance of a toxic organism.
Henry Walter Bates
An English explorer and naturalist who first scientifically noted mimicry in animals. His
work on butterflies in the Amazon led him to name Batesian mimicry after himself.
En.wikipedia.org
Batesian mimicry can also be seen in plants. There are many species of orchis who display Batesian food mimicry. This involves tricking pollinators into thinking they will be rewarded by food. Flies and moths who rely mainly on sight to find their reciprocating plant can be decieved by a non-rewarding plant that has co-evolved to look almost the same (Jersáková,Šmilauer, Jürgens, & Johnson, 2012).
Another plant strategy is to mimic a pollinators mate. Using a combination of visual and sent mimicry, there are over 10,000 orchids that have evolved to look like females of several different types of insects.
Another example of Batesian mimicry is the king snake and coral snake. The king snake mimics the coral snake and benefits because predators will avoid the king snake. There is a great video, but the link is not supported:
http://animal.discovery.com/tv-shows/other/videos/ms-adventure-king-snake-mimicry.htm
Science Daily: Study of Poisonous Snakes Boosts Old Batesian Principle of Mimicry
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/03/010315075129.htm
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Mullerian Mimicry[]
An unpalatable or toxic organism uses similar colors and patterns of another toxic organism to warn predators. Many species within the same family may share similar appearances. If a predator samples one species, it will learn to avoid the others within the family.
Insects.about.com/od/insect_defenses/f/what-is-mullerian-mimicry.htm
Fritz Muller
German naturalist who observed a different type of mimicry while studying insects. He coined the term after himself about20 years after Walter Bates discovered the Batesian mimicry phenomena.
Cryptic Coloration[]
Coloration and patterns which allow an organism to blend in to its environment. Also known as "camouflage", this form of mimicry conceals an organism from dedection.
Many differnt species use mimicry animal and plants alike. Here is a website with many different examples. http://malct32.blogspot.com/2010/09/animal-mimicry-art-of-deception.html