Müllerian Mimicry: Sharing the Load Reduces the Legwork

Müllerian Mimicry: Sharing the Load Reduces the Legwork

Color pattern mimicry has long been held up as a powerful example of natural selection. A recent study supports the theory by describing Müllerian mimicry rings in Appalachian millipedes that are analogous to those observed in tropical butterflies.

A Müllerian mimicry ring in Appalachian millipedes.

Few biological phenomena provide such an elegant and straightforward example of evolution by natural selection as color mimicry among unrelated organisms. By mimicking the appearance of a heavily defended aposematic species, members of a second species gain protection from predators and, potentially, enhanced fitness. Mimicking a preexisting warning advertisement is economical because a potenti...

Müllerian mimicry in aposematic spiny plants.

Müllerian mimicry is common in aposematic animals but till recently, like other aspects of plant aposematism was almost unknown. Many thorny, spiny and prickly plants are considered aposematic because their sharp defensive structures are colorful and conspicuous. Many of these spiny plant species (e.g., cacti and Agave in North American deserts; Aloe, Euphorbia and acacias with white thorns in ...

Mimicry reduces racial prejudice

Endosymbiosis: Bacteria Sharing the Load

A nested set of bacterial endosymbionts within mealybug cells collectively provides amino acids to their host, but their genomes show that some pathways are distributed between both endosymbionts, while other essential proteins are missing altogether. The possibility that additional functions are shared between partners warrants comparisons with organelles.