1) The document discusses mimicry in insects, including different types like Batesian mimicry, Mullerian mimicry, and aggressive mimicry. 2) Batesian mimicry involves a harmless species evolving to resemble a harmful species to avoid predation, while Mullerian mimicry involves multiple harmful species evolving similar appearances. 3) A case study tested whether predatory bugs mimic prey vibrations to attract spiders, finding the bugs' vibrations were similar enough to prey vibrations that spiders approached them as if they were prey.

1. University of agricultural sciences Raichur
ENT-504 Insect ecology
Mimicry in insects
Submitted to:
Dr. shivaleela
Assistant professor
Dept. of entomology presented by:
Coa, Raichur gayatri

2. Flow of
presentation
INTRODUCTION
Mimicry and its types
Examples of mimicry
Case study
conclusion

3. Introduction
Mimicry is an evolved resemblance between an organism and another object, often an organism
of another species. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the
same species .
Mimicry evolves if a receiver (such as a predator) perceives the similarity between a mimic (the
organism that has a resemblance) and a model (the organism it resembles) and as a result
changes its behavior in a way that provides a selective advantage to the mimic .
The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be visual, acoustic, chemical, tactile, or electric, or
combinations of these sensory modalities . Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms
that share a resemblance, in which case it is a form of mutualism
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https://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/mimi
cry

4. Mimicry
Mimicry is the process by which one species of
organism, the mimic, copies the appearance of another
species, the model. The mimic may resemble the
model in color, shape, size, or behavior.
The model is usually not harmful to the mimic, but the
mimic may have evolved to look like the model in order
to avoid being eaten or attacked.
Concept of mimicry was given by
Henry Walter Bates in 1862
https://infinitylearn.com/sur
ge/biology/mimicry/

5. Significance of mimicry
• The main significance of mimicry is to
protect the animals against enemies.
• Mimicry used for self defense which
increases the survival value of organisms.
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6. 1)Natural selection: According to
Weismann, the natural selection is the only
known factor in the production of mimicry.
2) Sharp sudden mutation and its
preservation by natural selection.
3) Due to the direct action occurred upon
the organism by food, moisture, cold etc.
4) Due to physiological response, such as
color sensation.
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Causes of mimicry

7. 1.Batesian mimicry
2.Mullerian mimicry
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Types of mimicry

8. It is form of protective mimicry in which a
species that is edible or harmless closely
resembles an inedible or harmful species and
therefore is avoided by predators.
It is named after the English naturalist
Henry Walter Bates, after his work on
butterflies in the rainforests of Brazil.
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Batesian mimicry

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Example.1
The palatable Dismorphia which mimic toxic Ithomiines.
Plate from Henry Walter Bates (1862) illustrating Batesian mimicry between Dismorphia
species (top row, third row) and various Ithomiini (Nymphalidae, second row, bottom row)

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Example.2
hoverfly and a wasp

11. Müllerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in
which two or more well-defended
species(aposematic), often foul-tasting and
sharing common predators, have come to mimic
each other's honest warning signals, to their
mutual benefit.
In fact, the key here is that the model actually
benefits from being mimicked, because it can
share the troublesome burden of enlightening
the predator of its harmful properties. In this
cooperative enterprise, both parties benefit.
It could thus be classified as a form of
mutualism, an ecological relationship where two
species gain mutual advantage from a biological
interaction; in this case via the signal receiver.
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Mullerian mimicry

12. One of the most well-known examples of mimicry,
the viceroy butterfly appears very similar to the
noxious tasting monarch butterfly. Although it was for
a long time purported to be an example of Batesian
mimicry, it has recently been discovered that the
viceroy is actually more unpalatable than the
monarch, making this a case of Müllerian mimicry
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In the same genus of Vespula where both are distasteful or harmful and
closely resembling each other and therefore avoided especially by all their
natural predators

15. Aggressive
mimicry
Automimicry
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Other types of mimicry

16. Also known as PECKHAMIAN MIMICRY
Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in
which predators, parasites, or parasitoids
share similar signals, using a harmless
model, allowing them to avoid being
correctly identified by their prey or host.
Zoologists have repeatedly compared this
strategy to a wolf in sheep's clothing.
One of the most interesting groups of ant
mimics is spiders.
some ant-mimicking spiders wave their
front two legs over their heads so they look
like antenna. The ants don’t seem to be
fooled, however.
Nevertheless, they will allow the spiders to
hang around so long as they stay out of
trouble.
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Aggressive mimicry

17. The automimicry (also known as
intraspecific mimicry) is a special case
of mimicry that takes place when an
organism transforms some part of
its body in order to seems like
another part of its own body or even
of the body of another member of
its species (e.g. a male that mimics a
trait from females).
The objectives of this type of mimicry
are to obtain some benefit from other
organisms or maybe to be unnoticed
by their predators or preys.
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Automimicry
The northern pygmy owl (Glaucidium
californicum) has two big dark spots
behind its head which remind of two big
eyes (picture by Michael Durham).

18. Case study

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To test whether vibrations generated
by bugs aggressively mimic the vibrations
generated by insect prey, they compared
the responses of spiders to bugs with how
they responded to prey.
Objective

21. They collected juvenile and adult bugs from Macquarie
University grounds on the day before testing.
vinegar fly maintained in laboratory cultures, and Aphids that
is often found in the webs of Achaearanea sp. in nature .
For recording techniques they used sound-attenuating
chamber (1.8 1.8 2 m) on a vibration-isolating table
(Kinetic Systems, USA) under full spectrum lighting and
fishers exact test.
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Materials and Methods

22. They found significant differences in the responses of spiders
to the different vibration sources (Fisher’s exact
test p , 0.01);
How spiders responded to bugs was extremely similar to how
spiders responded to prey (Fisher’s exact tests, vinegar flies
versus bugs: (p=0.56); aphids versus bugs: (p=0.65); vinegar
flies versus aphids, (p=1.00). For both types of prey there
were only two instances in which the spider made a direct
approach.
To assess spider responses to each of the treatments,
they
defined general sequences of spider response.
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Result
Figure . Responses of spiders to each vibration source.
Significant differences are indicated by different letters
(Fisher’s exact tests). Dark grey bar: direct approach.
Grey bar: orient, pause, approach.
Light grey bar: orient, no approach

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Figure 2. Representative waveforms of vibrations
generated by (a) bug plucking web, (b) single aphid
vibration making a small leg or body movement, (c)
single vinegar fly vibration making a small leg or body
movement,
(d) aphid impacting web, ( e) vinegar fly impacting web,
(i) aphid wing beats in web and ( j) vinegar fly wing beats
in web.

24. conclusion
Vibrations generated by bugs occupied a narrower
band of frequencies compared with the much more
variable
and often higher-frequency vibrations from both
types of prey. Rather than aggressively mimicking a
specific
prey model, bugs are best interpreted as general mimics
that exploit a bias in spiders to approach prey-like
vibrations in the web.
Overall aggressive mimicry is an intriguing phenomenon
in insect ecology that holds exceptional potential for
scientific research .
By studying aggressive mimicry, we can gain a better
understanding of the complex interactions between
species in their natural environments.
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25. THANK YOU