mimicry

mimicry

(mĭm′ĭ-krē)

n. pl. mimic·ries

Biology The resemblance of one organism to another or to an object in its surroundings for concealment and protection from predators.

The American Heritage® Medical Dictionary Copyright © 2007, 2004 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.

mimicry

the adoption by one species of any of the properties of another, such as colour, habits, structure. Particularly common in insects, two main forms of mimicry are recognized:

1. Batesian mimicry, where two species have the same appearance (often warning colours) but one (the ‘model’) is distasteful to predators. The mimic gains advantage because predators learn to associate appearance with bad taste and leave both model and mimic uneaten.
2. Mullerian mimicry, where both model and mimic are distasteful to predators and both gain from the other's distastefulness since the predator learns to avoid all similar-looking forms, whichever it eats first.

Collins Dictionary of Biology, 3rd ed. © W. G. Hale, V. A. Saunders, J. P. Margham 2005