Aggressive mimicry
For example, indigenous Australians who dress up as and imitate kangaroos when hunting would not be considered aggressive mimics, nor would a human angler, though they are undoubtedly practising self-decoration camouflage.
An alternative term, Peckhamian mimicry, has been suggested (after George and Elizabeth Peckham),[6][7][8] but it is seldom used.
On the other hand, the signal receiver inevitably suffers from being tricked, as is the case in most mimicry complexes.
In defensive mimicry, the mimic benefits by avoiding a harmful interaction with another organism that would be more likely to take place without the deceptive signals employed.
Some studies suggest that the northern shrike (Lanius excubitor) sings in winter often imitating small passerines that may be preyed upon when lured within reach.
Other colours too were learned and avoided, but bees seemed least able to effectively associate yellow pigmented webs with danger.
Their body structure allows them to bite and feed on the amphibians even when they are ingested by larger prey such as frogs.
[26] In the other case, termed Batesian-Wallacian mimicry[9] after Henry Walter Bates[27] and Alfred Russel Wallace,[28] the model is the prey species.
Brood parasitism, a form of kleptoparasitism where the mother has its offspring raised by another unwitting organism, is one such situation where host-parasite mimicry has evolved.
[26] In Batesian-Wallacian mimicry, the model is a sexually receptive female, which provides a strong attractive effect on males.
Older spiders use a different strategy however, swinging a sticky ball known as a bolas suspended by a silk thread at moths.
The evolution of versatile mimicry in C. leucoviridis may have been facilitated by constraints on song evolution in duetting communication systems in which reply signals are recognizable only by their precise timing in relation to the male song (<< 100 ms reply latency).
The zone-tailed hawk (Buteo albonotatus), which resembles the turkey vulture (Cathartes aura), may provide one such example.
Cleaner fish are mutually beneficial to many other species, which allows them to eat their parasites and dead skin.
Having fooled its prey into letting its guard down, the sabre-toothed blenny bites it, tearing off scales or pieces of fin.
Due to victims' ability to discriminate between foe and helper, the blennies have evolved close similarity, down to the regional level.
This deception provides the parasite easy entry into the host, which they can then feed upon, allowing them to continue their life cycle.
[39] One such case is a genus of mussel, Lampsilis, which feeds on the gills of fish in the larval stage of their development.
Gaining entry into the host is not an easy task though, despite the fact that several hundred thousand larvae are released at once.
Some resemble small fish themselves, with eye spots, a "tail" and horizontal stripes, and may even move in a similar fashion, as if facing the current (rheotaxis).
Their eggs pass out of the bird in the feces and are then taken in by Succinea, a terrestrial snail that lives in moist environments.
The eggs develop into larvae inside this intermediate host, and then must find their way into the digestive system of a suitable bird.
A sporocyst sac forces its way into the snail's eye stalks, and pulsates at high speed, enlarging the tentacle in the process.
[8] Zoologists have repeatedly compared aggressive mimicry to the wolf in sheep's clothing strategy of fable,[42] including when describing jumping spiders,[2][3] lacewings,[43] ant-mimicking aphids,[44] hemipteran bugs mimicking chrysomelid beetles,[45] bird-dropping spiders,[4] orchid mantises,[4] cichlid fish,[46][47] and the zone-tailed hawk which flies with vultures, enabling it to approach terrestrial prey.
