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Batesian mimicry



Though visual mimicry has been extensively researched, acoustic mimicry is also known, and occurs in a variety of species. Predators may identify their prey by sound as well as sight, and mimics have evolved that play tricks on the hearing of those that would eat them.

The Burrowing Owl employs auditory mimicry.
The Burrowing Owl employs auditory mimicry.

One such case is the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia), which nests in the ground. This species gives a hissing call that sounds much like a rattlesnake, which often spend the day underground. Both the parent and young make such hissing vocalizations when threatened. One predator of nestlings is the Douglas Ground Squirrel, which is duped by this auditory imitation. Rattlesnakes are a predator of sciurids, and use their burrows for thermoregulation.[8]

Another case is not one people would notice by chance, as it occurs in the ultrasonic range. Bats rely heavily on echolocation to detect their prey, such that their auditory system might well be equivalent both in importance and perceptual nature to the human visual system.[9] Some potential prey are unpalatable to bats however, and produce an ultrasonic aposematic signal, the auditory equivalent of warning coloration. In response to echolocating red and big brown bats, tiger moths produce warning sounds. Bats learn to avoid the harmful moths, but due to their association of the warning signal with danger, they similarly avoid other species that produce such warning sounds as well. Results like these indicate acoustic mimicry complexes, both Batesian and Mullerian, may be widespread in the auditory world.[10]

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References

  1. ^ Bates, H. W. (1961) Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley. Lepidoptera: Heliconidae. Transactions of the Linnean Society. 23:495-566.
  2. ^ Bates H. W. 1863. The Naturalist on the River Amazons, available at Project Gutenberg. Murray, London.
  3. ^ a b Pasteur, Georges (1982). “A classificatory review of mimicry systems”. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 13: 169–199.
  4. ^ a b Vane-Wright, R. I. (1976) A unified classification of mimetic resemblances. Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 8:25-56.
  5. ^ Brower, L. P. (1970) Plant poisons in a terrestrial food chain and implications for mimicry theory. In K. L. Chambers (ed) Biochemical Coevolution Corvallis, OR: Oregon State Univ. pp. 69-82.
  6. ^ Brower, L. P., Brower, J. V. Z., Corvino, J. M. (1967) Plant poisons in a terrestrial food chain. Proclaimations of the National Academy of Sciences USA 57:893-98.
  7. ^ Meyer A (2006) Repeating Patterns of Mimicry. PLoS Biol 4(10): e341 doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.0040341
  8. ^ Rowe, M. P., R. G. Coss, and D. H. Owings. (1986) Rattlesnake rattles and burrowing owl hisses: A case of acoustic Batesian mimicry. Ethology 72:53:71.
  9. ^ Dawkins, Richard (1986). The Blind Watchmaker. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.. ISBN 0-393-31570-3. 
  10. ^ Barber, J. R. and W. E. Conner. (2007) Acoustic mimicry in a predator–prey interaction. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104(22):9331-9334. [1]

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Further reading

  • Bates, H. W. 1862. Contributions to an insect fauna of the Amazon valley. Lepidoptera: Heliconidæ. Transactions of the Linnean Society of London 23: 495-566. Original paper by Bates. A shortened version is reprinted in Biological Journal of the Linnean Society (1981) 16: 41-54.
  • Cott, H.B. (1940) Adaptive Coloration in Animals. Methuen and Co, Ltd., London ISBN 0416300502 Provides many examples of Batesian Mimicry
  • Wickler, W. (1968) Mimicry in Plants and Animals (Translated from the German) McGraw-Hill, New York. ISBN 0070701008 Especially the first two chapters.
  • Edmunds, M. 1974. Defence in Animals: A Survey of Anti-Predator Defences. Harlow, Essex & NY: Longman 357 p. ISBN 0582441323 Chapter 4 discusses this phenomenon.
  • Pasteur, Georges (1982). “A classificatory review of mimicry systems”. Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics 13: 169–199. A detailed discussion of the different forms of mimicry.
  • Evans, M. A. (1965) Mimicry and the Darwinian Heritage Journal of the History of Ideas 26 (2): 211-220. For a historical perspective.

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External links


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Mimicry
Classification Batesian mimicry in butterflies
By taxa
Ant mimicry · Mimicry in plants  · Mimicry in vertebrates
Concepts



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