They are an example of '
Batesian mimicry', where a harmless species mimics a dangerous one.
It contrasts with
Batesian mimicry, which proposes that harmless species mimic harmful ones to protect themselves.
Ball formation was always synced with chromatophore expansion, which might result in
Batesian mimicry, which involves the imitation of aposematic coloration (Wiister et al.
These species plumages are very similar, even when they don't belong to the same family, which might hint to a case of
Batesian mimicry. Usually, bird's plumage tends to be more alike the more related one species is with another.
Evolution and maintenance of
Batesian mimicry, with particular reference to hover flies (Diptera: Syrphidae), Carleton University.
These nest observations are only the second published for the cinereous mourner, and they fit with the proposal that mourners exhibit
Batesian mimicry. In this classic evolutionary bit of fakery, never before seen in bird nestlings, vulnerable organisms increase their chances of survival by imitating dangerous or inedible neighbors.--Susan Milius
Some insects use wasps as a model to mimic and previous studies showed cases of
Batesian mimicry involving this insect group.
In
Batesian mimicry, the mimic is under predator-mediated selection thus resembling a noxious or unpalatable model, whereas traits of aggressive mimics are under pressure to deceive their prey.
We are concerned here with a clear case of
Batesian mimicry (Bates 1862, 1863) in which a mimic ressembles another species which is unpalatable for different reasons.
This pattern is typical in cases of
Batesian mimicry, in which the mimic is relatively scarce, palatable and unprotected while the model is abundant and wellprotected.
fontandraui is truly aposematic and can be considered a member of the proposed Mullerian circle of the blue chromatic Mediterranean and Atlantic Hypselodoris species or, on the contrary, might represent a case of
Batesian mimicry, as could be suspected by the absence of MDFs.
Chapter 3 traps Henry Walter Bates in the Amazon for 11 years of hardship where he collected 14,712 animal species (8,000 of whom were new to science) and 550 different species of butterflies, which led to the discovery of
Batesian mimicry.