Batesian mimicry


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Bates·i·an mimicry

 (bāt′sē-ən)
n.
A form of protective mimicry, especially in insects, in which a species that is palatable or harmless closely resembles an unpalatable or harmful species and therefore is avoided by predators.

[After Henry Walter Bates (1825-1892), British naturalist.]
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Batesian mimicry

(ˈbeɪtsɪən)
n
(Zoology) zoology mimicry in which a harmless species is protected from predators by means of its resemblance to a harmful or inedible species
[C19: named after H. W. Bates (1825–92), British naturalist and explorer]
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Bates′i•an mim′icry

(ˈbeɪt si ən)
n.
mimicry in which a species with poor defenses resembles another species that more successfully avoids predators.
[after Henry Walter Bates (1825–92), English naturalist]
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
References in periodicals archive ?
It contrasts with Batesian mimicry, which proposes that harmless species mimic harmful ones to protect themselves.
Ball formation was always synced with chromatophore expansion, which might result in Batesian mimicry, which involves the imitation of aposematic coloration (Wiister et al.
These species plumages are very similar, even when they don't belong to the same family, which might hint to a case of Batesian mimicry. Usually, bird's plumage tends to be more alike the more related one species is with another.
Evolution and maintenance of Batesian mimicry, with particular reference to hover flies (Diptera: Syrphidae), Carleton University.
These nest observations are only the second published for the cinereous mourner, and they fit with the proposal that mourners exhibit Batesian mimicry. In this classic evolutionary bit of fakery, never before seen in bird nestlings, vulnerable organisms increase their chances of survival by imitating dangerous or inedible neighbors.--Susan Milius
In Batesian mimicry, the mimic is under predator-mediated selection thus resembling a noxious or unpalatable model, whereas traits of aggressive mimics are under pressure to deceive their prey.
We are concerned here with a clear case of Batesian mimicry (Bates 1862, 1863) in which a mimic ressembles another species which is unpalatable for different reasons.
This pattern is typical in cases of Batesian mimicry, in which the mimic is relatively scarce, palatable and unprotected while the model is abundant and wellprotected.
fontandraui is truly aposematic and can be considered a member of the proposed Mullerian circle of the blue chromatic Mediterranean and Atlantic Hypselodoris species or, on the contrary, might represent a case of Batesian mimicry, as could be suspected by the absence of MDFs.
Chapter 3 traps Henry Walter Bates in the Amazon for 11 years of hardship where he collected 14,712 animal species (8,000 of whom were new to science) and 550 different species of butterflies, which led to the discovery of Batesian mimicry.