SecretNature t1_itbys04 wrote on October 22, 2022 at 1:59 PM

Reply to comment by ramriot in is it the case that poisonous animals tend to be colourful and if so why is it that they tend to evolve to be colourful moreso then other animals? by HumbleProdiGenius

Yes, selection can also cause two hazardous species to end up looking like each other as negative interactions with either species is beneficial to both. Monarch butterflies and Viceroy butterflies are an example.

The example you cited with hover flies is Batesian mimicry while the butterfly example is called Müllerian mimicry in case someone wants to learn more.

ramriot t1_itbzbtb wrote on October 22, 2022 at 2:04 PM

Thanks for that, just reading through wikipedia on this, I love how the selection pressure is population sensitive. In that if the mimic starts to predominate over the model the whole thing falls apart.