The Types of Mimicry

Last blog post we made an introduction to what the world of mimicry was. Mainly the focus was on the defensive form of mimicry however there are other banners under which different forms of mimicry fall. They are as follows:

Angler fish using its 'lure'
Credit: National geographic

Aggressive mimicry: a predatory species resembles a model that is harmless or beneficial to a third species. (Cote and Cheney, 2004)

These organisms utilise aggressive mimicry as predatory techniques which include utilising ‘lures’ such as the Angler fish or Alligator turtle, calls as used by Margay  and signals  created by  'femme fatal' Fireflies or habitat preparation used by the Orchid mantis or Golden orb spider

Heliconius butterfly's exemplify Mullerian
Mimicry as they all are unpalatable

Defensive mimicry: These mimics are the mimics that fall into the categories of:

Bastesian: where an edible prey species mimics a warning signal of an aposematic (unprofitable) model species to avoid predation (Ihalainen, 2006)

Mullerian : where aposematic species share a warning signal . Ihalainen, 2006)

Reproductive mimicry: These mimics have adapted in order to reproduce more successfully and can be seen mainly in flower mimicry however is seen in the animal kingdom as well in the form of Inter-sexual mimicry

Pouyannian mimicry:  behaviours similar to copulation that serve a reproductive function for one or both participants but do not involve actual sexual union between the individuals most generally applied to a pollinator attempting to copulate with a flower. (Pasteur, 1982)

Inter- Sexual mimicry: occurs when one sex mimics the opposite sex in its behaviour, appearance, or chemical signalling.

Auto mimicry: These mimics occur within a single species. The usage of auto mimicry means that one body part may resemble another to confuse predators.

Next post we will begin to focus on aggressive mimicry and the different forms that it can take