What is the essence of mimicry?

Mimicry - this is the ability of some animals and insects to disguise themselves as various objects found in nature. Usually animals use this quality to protect themselves from enemies or, conversely, to attack unnoticed.
In total, 3 types of mimicry are known.
Apathetic mimicry - this is the resemblance of an animal or insect to a certain object of nature. For example, a stick insect is very similar to a thin twig. It is almost impossible to notice it.
In sematic mimicry, an animal imitates a species that is avoided by a predator due to its unpleasant taste. This usually occurs in larvae, nymphs.
There is epigamic mimicry. When either a male or a female imitates an inedible animal. Moreover, females have the ability to imitate several species. They need this to breed offspring.
The most famous example of mimicry is the Viceroy butterfly. It imitates the larger monarch butterfly. They have almost the same coloring, but the imitator has an extra black arc on the wings. However, the caterpillars of these species are completely different.
There are caterpillars that look quite simple and they are unremarkable. But this is until they are disturbed. Then they bend over. The front end swells up so that it looks like a snake's head. At times of danger, caterpillars can even sway, imitating a snake.
The spider Synemosina is a stunning example of mimicry. It is so similar to an ant that even if you look closely you can’t always tell it apart. By the way, some ants look like spiders.
There are many types of flies. Some of them copy bees and wasps. This applies not only to coloring. They try to buzz just like bees and pretend that they are about to sting.
Some beetles resemble the feces of various animals. In addition, in times of danger they can pretend to be dead. Some of the beetles resemble plant seeds.
The stick insect is the most amazing example of a mimic. It is almost indistinguishable from a thin twig. The stick insect freezes when it senses danger. After this he begins to move very slowly. If he is disturbed again, he will fall to the ground.
Leaf butterflies are absolutely no different from dry leaves. Some butterflies are invisible during flight due to the transparency of their wings.
Typically, scientists have only studied the ability to imitate in adults. However, recently there has been increased interest in the capabilities of immature insects. You have a dog, then dress it here in winter,

The planet is inhabited by thousands of species of living beings, forced to fight for their existence every day. Herbivores eat plants, and predators look for weaker animals. In this frantic race, everyone is forced to adapt. He who cannot defend himself with teeth and claws takes a different, more cunning path. Mimicry in animals is considered an effective way to avoid becoming another’s lunch – there are quite a few examples of this.

What is it?

The word “mimicry” appeared in the Russian language by borrowing the Greek mimikos, meaning “imitative” in translation. Mimicry is usually understood as the imitative similarity in shape and color of one organism with another, or with the environment. In other words, this is the external similarity of a less protected animal with a more protected one, or merging with the environment. The simplest example of mimicry is the green coloration of insects.

However, predatory animals also use mimicry in order to be able to sneak up on their prey unnoticed. In any case, mimicry acts as a way of adaptation to the surrounding world, the purpose of which is considered to be to prolong life and reproduce more offspring.

A living organism (usually less protected) that copies the appearance of another is called an imitator. The one whose appearance is copied is called a “model”. The one who is being deceived in this way is called an operator.

Features of mimicry

Imitating shape and color has become a fairly effective means of protection, but even this option does not always pay off. For an example of mimicry to be effective, certain conditions must be met.

1. The predator (operator) must have the ability to recognize and remember animals that are not suitable for food (tasteless, dangerous or difficult to catch).
2. The operator must be stupid enough not to notice the imitation and mistake the simulator for the model. In the case of camouflage to the environment, the operator should not notice the victim.

According to current theory, the connection between the simulator and the model is established over time.

Types of formation of mimicry

In nature, there are several types of mimicry, differing from each other in their basic principles.

Camouflage (camouflage) is an example of mimicry, in which the imitator copies the natural background (leaves, stones, tree branches). The model in this case is an inanimate object, so it does not react to the imitator at all.

Müllerian mimicry is a term used to describe the convergence of external characteristics of two protected species. Such a change may seem unjustified, but only at first glance. This is explained by the peculiarity of the behavior of predators. The ability to identify animals unsuitable for food comes not at the genetic level, but with experience. Thus, to obtain information, the predator is forced to taste the prey. In this case, a certain percentage of individuals of the species being eaten is under attack. If two protected species have similar external characteristics, the number of victims is divided between the 2 species (that is, more individuals).

Camouflage (color mimicry)

There are many examples of color mimicry in nature.

Butterfly caterpillars are constantly at risk of being eaten, so without good camouflage their population would be at risk. Constantly being on the leaves and eating them, the caterpillars are in maximum safety, since in the process of evolution they acquired a green body color. Green-colored grasshoppers manage to avoid attacks with the same effect—an example of mimicry in this case is also typical.

In addition to insects, other animals whose habitat is the dense foliage of trees and shrubs can also acquire a green color. Green parrots, snakes, lizards, frogs and other inhabitants are often found in mangrove forests.

Animals, birds and insects that spend a lot of time on the ground or between trees have acquired a variegated brownish color. Beetles and spiders are almost indistinguishable on tree bark. Woodcocks, snipes, great snipes, and black grouse can easily hide among dry grass and fallen leaves - at the slightest danger, they take a motionless position and merge with surrounding objects. The steppe bird avdotka lies on the ground and stretches its neck - in this position it is extremely difficult to distinguish it from clay and mud. You won’t even be able to see the bittern stretched out among the feather grass.

Animals living in temperate latitudes change their outfit twice a year for effective camouflage. Hares, arctic foxes, and weasels are white in winter, and in the spring after molting they turn gray and brown.

The chameleon is considered the real record holder in this regard. It instantly adapts to its surrounding background and takes on a suitable color.

Predator camouflage

Color mimicry (simply camouflage) is used not only by unprotected animal species, but also by predators. Their special colors help them sneak up on their prey unnoticed. At the same time, the coloring pattern of the predator completely depends on its habitat. The play of light and shadow makes tigers' vertical stripes almost invisible as they sneak through the grass.

The python, with its mosaic coloring, can quietly and unnoticed sneak up on prey in the greenery, illuminated by the glare of the sun.

An example of this type of mimicry was the white owl living in the tundra. It is distinguished by its dazzling white plumage, which is difficult to notice among the snow. With the help of such a trick, the bird takes its prey by surprise.

Shape mimicry: examples

In addition to imitating color, many animals have ideally mastered the ability to imitate the shape of an object. Stick insects have achieved unique results in this matter. They not only have a characteristic brown color, but also have an elongated body shape. Not a single bird will notice a stick insect frozen on a branch.

The kalimma butterfly, which lives in the tropics, has a brownish color on the underside of its wings. When she sits down and folds her wings, she becomes exactly like a dry leaf. There is also an orthoptera insect in nature, called the “wandering leaf”. This comparison is not an accident; the body and legs of the insect have a striking resemblance to a green leaf.

The underwater world has its own geniuses of camouflage. The Black Sea is home to needle fish, whose habitat is considered to be thickets of the marine plant Zostera. The needlefish has the gift of camouflage, which makes it practically indistinguishable from underwater vegetation. Another fish that deserves attention is the rag fish, which has a body shape that closely resembles a rag. Hiding in algae, this sea creature becomes almost invisible.

Mimicry of color

Many insects and animals that are poisonous or unsuitable for food have bright warning colors. Such poisonous caterpillars, beetles, and frogs are visible from afar due to their bright red, orange or yellow colors. Having tried such a prey once, a bird or a predatory animal will not repeat the mistake again. This is actively used by many other animals that are not protected from predator attacks.

A typical example of mimicry is the appearance of harmless flies, which are extremely similar to bumblebees or wasps.

In the tropical forests of America there are beautiful bright butterflies belonging to the heliconid family. Birds do not attack them, as these insects have an extremely unpleasant smell and taste. In the same forests there are other butterflies, very similar to them, but already ordinary; birds also avoid them.

Sawfly larvae with bright spots on their bodies and ladybugs are capable of secreting a toxic liquid. This is precisely the reason why cuculia moths began to copy this color, although they do not have any means of protection.

The familiar cuckoo is very similar to the sparrowhawk, which the bird actively uses. Appearing near the nests of smaller birds, it scares them and, taking advantage of the confusion, lays eggs in other people's nests.

Sound mimicry

This method is used to intimidate the enemy and deter him from attacking. In this case, the same principle is used as in the examples of mimicry of color and shape. Protected animals terrify the enemy with hissing, barking, roaring and other threatening sounds. Some unprotected animals actively take advantage of this.

An example of mimicry is the behavior of the burrowing owl. At a moment of danger, he imitates the hiss of a snake, thereby forcing the enemy to retreat.

Mimicry in plants

The ability to imitate is found not only in animals and insects, but also in plants. Most often, an example of mimicry in plants in this case is expressed in the presence of certain parts of the plant that are characteristic of other species.

Thus, many animals are familiar with stinging nettle, which burns strongly when touched. Animals will not eat such a plant. The dead nettle has learned to masterfully resemble the stinging nettle, but it does not have such dangerous hairs.

Another striking example is rafflesia (the largest flower on earth). Its smell is extremely unpleasant (the smell of rotten meat), but this is what attracts a large number of flies who want to lay larvae in the decomposed flesh. This trick helps rafflesia to be pollinated by insects.

Predator imitation

This technique is often used by insects whose colors contain aggressive shapes and colors. Unlike those species that imitate the coloring of inedible animals, these declare themselves to be predators. Thus, some butterflies have two black spots on the spread of their wings. At the slightest danger, the insect opens its wings and becomes very similar to the eyes of an owl or other birds of prey.

The examples of mimicry mentioned above are only a small part of all those found in nature. It is these features that allow animals and plants to adapt to the environment and preserve their lives and reproduce for as long as possible.

Plant adaptations can be extraordinarily complex. Some types of orchids, for example, imitate female bees; the appearance and even the smell of other plants resemble dead animals; There are also those that look like stones. These strange adaptations are an interesting example of the complex ways in which the plant world can increase its chances of survival.

The idea that some species can imitate others in order to deceive their enemies and thus avoid destruction has attracted the attention of biologists for more than a century. This particular survival strategy was first described in 1862 by the English naturalist Henry Bates, who noticed that among the brightly colored butterflies of South America, some species looked almost alike, but some were poisonous while others were completely harmless. Based on his observations, Bates came to the conclusion that harmless species disguise themselves as poisonous ones in order to avoid being eaten. He called this phenomenon mimicry; now they call it that - Batesian mimicry.

But mimicry in nature in plants did not attract much attention until relatively recently, partly because plant biology previously considered primarily physical environmental factors, and partly simply because mimicry among plants is less common than among animals (perhaps the reason for this is that plants are sessile and individuals of the same species tend to grow together in groups, so that herbivores can remember the location of certain plant species and distinguish them from others). In his research in 1793, the German scientist Christian Sprengel obtained the first evidence that plants, like animals, could rely on deception as a strategy to ensure reproduction. He discovered that some species, particularly orchids, do not produce nectar themselves, but imitate nectar-producing species that grow in the same habitats.

When ecology became an independent science and the interaction of species became the object of close research, the problem of mimicry in the plant world took its corresponding place. The relationship between a plant and an animal can be different - in some cases they are mutually beneficial (for example, the pollination system), in others they are antagonistic (for example, protection from herbivores). Apparently, mimicry in nature plays a certain role in all systems. As the relationships between animals and plants were studied, especially in tropical ecosystems, it became clear that mimicry in plants is much more widespread than previously thought.

Mimicry in nature, both in plants and animals, involves the participation of three components. Its scheme is as follows: the first component, the model, is the animal, plant or substrate that is imitated; the second component, the simulator, is the organism that imitates the model; the third participant is the deceived animal, which cannot distinguish the model from the imitator. Morphological structures, coloring, behavior and other signs of appearance that create a resemblance to the model can be imitated. The model may be an unrelated species or a stationary inanimate object, such as something in the environment in which the mimicking organism spends most of its time.

On the part of the plant, mimicry is not an active strategy; flowers do not deliberately deceive animals. Mimicry arose as a result of natural selection based on random mutations, which, after many generations, led to the emergence of properties beneficial to the plant. If such genetically fixed features help a plant to camouflage, then it has a greater chance of survival in comparison with another plant that does not have similar properties and is less adapted to camouflage. Such an instance will leave behind more offspring and pass this advantage on to the next generation. For natural selection to favor mimicry, the mimicking organism must derive a reproductive advantage from its imitation of another organism or object: its fitness, as measured by the number of surviving offspring, must increase over a series of generations.

Documented field studies of animal mimicry are sparse, in part because it is difficult to monitor two or, more often, three species at once. Plants, at least during the vegetative stage of their life cycle, are motionless, so they are much easier to observe in the field.

For plants that serve as food for herbivores, the very fact of survival, as a rule, already means better fitness and an advantage over other individuals that become prey. In pollination, an indicator of reproductive fitness can be the number of pollinators attracted and the number of fruits and seeds produced.

Most pollination systems are mutually beneficial for plants and their pollinators. The plant provides pollinators with nutrients in the form of pollen and nectar, and they, in the course of their feeding activity, transfer pollen from one plant to another of the same species, thus promoting fertilization and seed set. But some plants do not offer any reward to pollinators: they attract them by imitating a number of physical and chemical characteristics (color, texture, smell, shape) characteristic of neighboring species of flowering plants that secrete large amounts of nectar. Insects are often unable to distinguish the model from the copycat and therefore pollinate them both.

An example of such a deception, the essence of which is not immediately revealed, was recently described by L. Anders Nilsson of the Institute of Plant Taxonomy in Uppsala. In this mimetic complex, the model is several species of bells (genus Campanula), and the imitator is the orchid Cephalanthera rubra (red pollenhead). Both plants grow in the same habitats - in the dry forests of Western Europe and the Mediterranean - and are usually visited by two species of solitary bees, Chelostoma fuliginosum and C. campanularum. The flowers of these two plants, which belong to completely different families, bear little resemblance to each other, differing in both shape and color (orchid flowers are pink, bell flowers are blue-purple). Bluebells produce abundant nectar for bees visiting their flowers, while orchids do not have this property.