Biology / Unit 14 Bio 3681 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Defensive Adaptations and Mimicry
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The idea
Aposematism is warning coloration advertising a defense; Batesian mimicry is a harmless species resembling a defended one; Mullerian mimicry is defended species converging on one warning pattern.
In practice
A harmless hoverfly's yellow-and-black stripes mimic a stinging wasp's pattern, deterring predators that learned to avoid the wasp.
Where people slip
Batesian mimicry needs a defended model nearby; Mullerian mimicry involves species that are each already defended.
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