Courtesy of Fritz Müller - _TNY_7274
The orange-spotted tiger clearwing (Mechanitis polymnia) is an unpalatable species for verterbrates, something that confused me since I know this is a species which mimics other species. Why would the toxic species be the one that mimics others?
Well, it turns out that this is not an example of the "normal" Batesian mimicry where a species imitates somtheing more dangerous, but instead a case of Müllerian mimicry - where different harmful species resemble each other, reinforcing each others warning colours and patterns.
Courtesy of Fritz Müller - _TNY_7274
The orange-spotted tiger clearwing (Mechanitis polymnia) is an unpalatable species for verterbrates, something that confused me since I know this is a species which mimics other species. Why would the toxic species be the one that mimics others?
Well, it turns out that this is not an example of the "normal" Batesian mimicry where a species imitates somtheing more dangerous, but instead a case of Müllerian mimicry - where different harmful species resemble each other, reinforcing each others warning colours and patterns.