Protective mimicry

In evolutionary biology, mimicry is a similarity of one organism, usually an animal, to another that has evolved because the resemblance is selectively favoured by the behaviour of a shared signal receiver that can respond to both. Mimicry may evolve between different species, or between individuals of the same species. Often, mimicry evolves to protect a species from predators, making it an antipredator adaptation. The resemblances that evolve in mimicry can be in appearance, behaviour, sound or scent. Mimicry may be to the advantage of both organisms that share a resemblance, in which case it is a mutualism, or mimicry can be to the detriment of one, making it parasitic or competitive.

Mimicry occurs when a group of organisms, the mimics, evolve to share perceived characteristics with another group, the models. The evolutionary convergence between groups is driven by the selective action of a signal-receiver or dupe. Birds, for example, use sight to identify palatable insects, whilst avoiding the noxious ones. Over time, palatable insects may evolve to resemble noxious ones, making them mimics and the noxious ones models. In the case of mutualism, sometimes both groups are referred to as "co-mimics".

In its broadest definition, mimicry can include non-living models. The specific terms masquerade and mimesis are sometimes used when the models are inanimate. For example, animals such as flower mantises, planthoppers and geometer moth caterpillars that resemble twigs, bark, leaves or flowers practice masquerade. Some authors would consider this mimicry, others would not. Many animals bear eyespots, which are hypothesized to resemble the eyes of larger animals. They may not resemble any specific organism's eyes, and whether or not animals respond to them as eyes is also unclear. Nonetheless, eyespots are the subject of a rich contemporary literature.

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