BIOL 1902 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Monarch Butterfly, Hoverfly, Cottontail Rabbit
24 Mar 2019
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Document Summary
When a group of unrelated animals are all defended and have similar appearances, (such as the milkweed beetle and milkweed bug) this is known as mullerian mimicry. When a harmless species resembles a harmful species / mimics the warning signals directed at a common predator. The harmless species is a mimic of the model, harmful species. This is a form of batesian mimicry. The number of models > number of mimics. the more models there are, the more mimics there will be. also, mimics can only be present in the same season where the models are present. You don"t always have to be brightly colored to have a form of chemical defence. Some toads have the toxin bufotalin in their skin glands. When cornered, toads also suck in air to inflate themselves to appear larger. this is known as a behavioural defence. A defense reaction, may come in many forms i. e: playing dead, behavioural group defence, etc.
