Search results
Results From The WOW.Com Content Network
The hoverfly species mimicking bumblebees are generally accurate mimics, and many of their species are polymorphic. Many of the polymorphisms are different between the sexes, for example by the mimicry being limited to one sex only. The question is, how can the differences between social wasp mimics and bumblebee mimics be explained?
[3]: 126 The most common example is sexual dimorphism, which occurs in many organisms. Other examples are mimetic forms of butterflies (see mimicry), and human hemoglobin and blood types. According to the theory of evolution, polymorphism results from evolutionary processes, as does any aspect of a species.
Convergent evolution—the repeated evolution of similar traits in multiple lineages which all ancestrally lack the trait—is rife in nature, as illustrated by the examples below. The ultimate cause of convergence is usually a similar evolutionary biome , as similar environments will select for similar traits in any species occupying the same ...
Frequency-dependent selection can lead to polymorphic equilibria, which result from interactions among genotypes within species, in the same way that multi-species equilibria require interactions between species in competition (e.g. where α ij parameters in Lotka-Volterra competition equations are non-zero).
This is the analogue of Batesian mimicry within a single species, and occurs when there is a palatability spectrum within a population. Examples include the monarch and the queen from the subfamily Danainae, which feed on milkweed species of varying toxicity. These species store toxins from its host plant, which are maintained even in the adult.
Polymorphic and/or mimetic females occur in the case of some taxa in the Papilionidae primarily to obtain a level of protection not available to the male of their species. The most distinct case of sexual dimorphism is that of adult females of many Psychidae species who have only vestigial wings, legs, and mouthparts as compared to the adult ...
For example, crocodiles possess a temperature-dependent sex determining polyphenism, where sex is the trait influenced by variations in nest temperature. [3] When polyphenic forms exist at the same time in the same panmictic (interbreeding) population they can be compared to genetic polymorphism. [4]
This condition has been detected in many species. Trichomycterus davisi, for example, is an extreme case where the polymorphism was present within a single chimeric individual. [1] It has also been studied in alfalfa, [2] shrews, [3] Brazilian rodents, [4] and an enormous variety of other animals and plants. [5] In one instance it has been ...