Mimicry

[Captain Kev]

In the thread below Jezlee and Imaginos talk about a hoverfly mimicking a carder bee of which Jezlee has a couple of photos.

http://www.wildaboutbritain.co.uk/fo...on-needed.html

I think this subject is fascinating and would love to learn more.

Anyone know of other mimics in british nature, Bee orchids were mentioned by Dan. Caterpillars mimicking thorns?, moths the colour of Bark?, photos would be a bonus.

Anyone also know of any literature on the subject?

[Alan]

Cuckoo Bumblebees are interesting ones.

Resemble bumblebees but are parasites of them. They enter the bumblebees nest in the spring, kill the Queen, and make the workers rear their own larvae.

[henrya]

I have certainly seen caterpillars that mimic twigs - in fact one that I found I pointed out to a group of people and they could not see it, even though my finger was a few millimetres away.

Buff Tip moth is an excellent mimic of a bit of broken twig.

Purple Hairstreak caterpillars look remarkably like the buds of the oaks on which they feed.

Moths the colour of bark - we are moving across the fuzzy border between mimicry and camouflage here!

A big subject - this one could run and run!

henrya

[Captain Kev]

Originally Posted by henrya

I have certainly seen caterpillars that mimic twigs - in fact one that I found I pointed out to a group of people and they could not see it, even though my finger was a few millimetres away.

Buff Tip moth is an excellent mimic of a bit of broken twig.

Purple Hairstreak caterpillars look remarkably like the buds of the oaks on which they feed.

Moths the colour of bark - we are moving across the fuzzy border between mimicry and camouflage here!

A big subject - this one could run and run!

henrya

I suppose mimicry is also a form of camoflage i.e. I have seen Katydids abroad mimicking a leaf to perfection including leaf veins and little brown bits to mimic leaf rot, they must be mimicking a leaf for Camoflage purposes.

You get insects mimicking objects i.e. leaves or twigs, either for camoflage to hide from predators or to aid predation,

You also get insects mimicking other insects like Bees, is this for both protection and predation?

You have plants mimicking insects to help polination.

Alans example of a Cuckoo Bee mimicking for parasitic reasons is another great example.

I'd be interested in other mimics in British nature as I didn't know about Hoverfly mimics.
What about Spider mimics? any of these knocking about?

[Imaginos]

There are essentially three types of mimicry in insects;
Mullerian mimicry is found among unrelated groups of harmful insects. It is a form of convergent evolution resulting from the fact that if a predator learns to avoid a certain colour scheme then other species to that which 'informed' the predator (by being tasted) will also benefit. A good example is the black and yellow colouration found in, among others; social wasps; cinnabar moth caterpillars and ladybirds.
Batesian mimicry, is where a harmless species resembles a harmful one, there is often quite a striking resemblance, particularly involving tropical butteflies. In Britain this form of mimicry is seen in many groups resembling social hymenoptera (wasps and bees) e.g flies (hoverflies), beetles (wasp beetle), moths (cleawing moths), where the model, if not poisonous, is at least likely to fight back.
Aggressive (and parasitic) mimicry is where the signal is deceptive to the prey e.g. the hoverflies mentioned in the other thread; cuckoo bees as mentioned by Alan, egg mimicry by cuckoos etc.
In my opinion insects mimicking plants is more comfortable under the heading of camoflage although the ability of caterpillars to look like thorns or twigs or even bird poo; beetles to look like seeds; praying mantids and spiders to look like flowers etc. is sometimes stunning.
This little missive only scratches the surface, as henrya says; this subject could run and run.

[Marvin Africa]

Batesain mimicry is the one that I find the most fascinating. I suppose you could find information about this in evolution or ecology books.

[Captain Kev]

Imaginos:spiders to look like flowers etc. is sometimes stunning.

I suppose Crab spiders are a good example of this, using camoflage for predation purposes.

Haven't found a book yet that covers this lot concerning British subjects, perhaps you should write one Imaginos?

Many many years ago I remember looking at Bee Orchids and thinking perhaps there must be a god to make such an amazing thing, I started reading books about evolution to see how such things could possibly evolve by themselves. I found the answers in these books and now know the processes of evolution and that one of the main ingredients is time, but here's the thing, I learned that natures way of working things out is wonderful and amazing enough without the need for a big guy with a beard in the sky doing it.
So that's why I have a soft spot for mimicry, that need to find out more drove me to a better and clearer understanding of the natural world.