In the late 1840s, a British naturalist named Henry Walter Bates embarked on an 11-year expedition to the Amazon jungle. When he returned to England in 1859, his collection included more than 14,000 rare insects and new species that had never been discovered by science before.
At the time, many other naturalists were doing the same. What sets him apart is that he also studies and observes their behavior and delves into their relationships and interactions. For Bates, it’s a way to understand the different roles each species plays in an ecosystem.
During one expedition, he noticed that the ‘Ithomiini’ butterfly — a slow-flying and extremely common species — was rarely eaten by predators. “Oh, maybe they’re tough!” He thought for a while and decided to collect samples so he could examine them more closely.
He soon discovered that another species of butterfly lived among the ithominis he had captured. They belong to two different families, but their body shape, wings, and appearance are almost exactly the same. This new discovery puzzled him, but he realized it was common throughout the Amazon rainforest. Also, this isn’t unique to butterflies, hundreds of different insects and animals have replicated this behavior.
Of the two families, he found that the Ithomiini were overlooked by predators, while the doppelganger was often targeted—even though they were the faster of the two. Bates concluded that the Doppelganger had evolved to mimic the Ithomiini to confuse predators and essentially keep them hidden in plain sight.
This phenomenon is now known as Bates mimicry, in which a weaker or disadvantaged species mimics the appearance of a stronger species to increase its chances of survival.
Bates mimicry is a natural, unconscious evolutionary process. If the animal changes consciously, then it is no longer imitation. It can include appearance, sound, and even behavior, of which there are countless examples in the insect and animal world.
Bézierian mimicry is also different from camouflage, in which animals actively hide to blend in with their surroundings. In imitation, want or my way is detected, the goal is to confuse the predator. The size of the “model” population also matters — the more models there are, the easier it is for imitators to imitate.
In short, imitation as a phenomenon is an extremely complex, delicate and exciting field of science. Over the years, other types of mimicry have been observed and identified, such as B. Müllerian mimicry, defensive mimicry, and even offensive mimicry—all with their own unique criteria.
Imitation is considered an important piece of evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution. In fact, he included Bates mimicry in his then-controversial book. Bézierian mimicry allows us to witness the effects and consequences of natural selection firsthand. It provides a deeper understanding of evolution and can help us think about how it relates to us humans.
