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The viceroy (Limenitis archippus) is a North American butterfly.It was long thought to be a Batesian mimic of the monarch butterfly, but since the viceroy is also distasteful to predators, it is now considered a Müllerian mimic instead.
Viceroy butterflies and monarchs (types of admiral butterfly) are both poisonous Müllerian mimics, though they were long thought to be Batesian. Mitochondrial DNA analysis of admiral butterflies shows that the viceroy is the basal lineage of two western sister species in North America. The variation in wing patterns appears to have preceded ...
In Müllerian mimicry, two or more aposematic forms share the same warning signals, [27] [35] as in viceroy and monarch butterflies. Birds avoid eating both species because their wing patterns honestly signal their unpleasant taste. [28] The porcupine Erethizon dorsatum combines sharp spines with warning coloration
Equivalent to Batesian mimicry within a single species, it occurs when there is a palatability spectrum within a population of harmful prey. For example, monarch ( Danaus plexippus ) caterpillars feed on milkweed species of varying toxicity.
The mimic may resemble the prey or host itself, or another organism that does not threaten the prey or host. [68] Several spiders use aggressive mimicry to lure prey. [69] Species such as the silver argiope (Argiope argentata) employ prominent patterns in the middle of their webs
Birds of prey or predatory birds, also known as (although not the same as) raptors, are hypercarnivorous bird species that actively hunt and feed on other vertebrates (mainly mammals, reptiles and other smaller birds).
Toxic insects, primarily beetles, in the diets of these toxic birds are the most common sources for the bird’s toxicity. In the New Guinea bird species of Pitohui and Ifrita, the beetles of genus Choresine, natively known as nanisani, are pivotal food sources, and toxin sources, of these birds. [6]
Genetic polymorphism and natural selection give rise to otherwise edible species (the mimic) gaining a survival advantage by resembling inedible species (the model). Such a mimicry complex is referred to as Batesian and is most commonly known by the mimicry by the limenitidine viceroy butterfly of the inedible danaine monarch. Later research ...