Slide 1
A fly resembles a wasp
Some harmless hoverflies carry patterns resembling stinging wasps or hornets. A predator's avoidance of the defended insect can also protect the mimic.
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This is Batesian mimicry: a relatively undefended species resembles a defended one. The benefit depends on an observer confusing or grouping the appearances, not on the fly acquiring a sting.
Slide 2
Anatomy reveals the difference
A hoverfly is a true fly with one functional pair of wings. A wasp has two pairs and a different body plan.
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The resemblance concerns selected visible features rather than complete identity. A human examining wing number closely may distinguish insects that a predator must assess in a brief encounter.
Slide 3
Selection changes a population
Individuals that predators avoid may survive and reproduce more successfully. Over generations, inherited resemblance can become more common in a population.
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The insect does not choose to redesign its body after seeing a wasp. Evolutionary change concerns differences among generations, while an individual uses the body it develops.
Slide 4
The audience sets the value
A mimic gains protection only if its appearance influences predators. Local encounters with defended models can affect how useful the resemblance becomes.
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If harmless mimics dominate encounters, avoidance may become less rewarding for predators. This helps explain why the ecological frequency of models and mimics matters alongside visual similarity.
Slide 5
A mimic has other work to do
Adult hoverflies often visit flowers and can transport pollen. Resembling a wasp is only one part of the animal's ecological life.
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Larval diets vary widely among hoverfly species. Knowing the adult's appearance does not reveal whether its young eat aphids, decaying material or another resource in a different habitat.
Sources
- A year of British garden wildlife
Natural History Museum
- Henry Bates and the butterflies of the Amazon
Natural History Museum