A comparative analysis of the evolution of imperfect mimicry

Although exceptional examples of adaptation are frequently celebrated, some outcomes of natural selection seem far from perfect. For example, many hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are harmless (Batesian (1)) mimics of stinging Hymenoptera (2). However, although some hoverfly species are considered ex...

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Veröffentlicht in:Nature (London) 2012-03, Vol.483 (7390), p.461
Hauptverfasser: Penney, Heather D, Hassall, Christopher, Skevington, Jeffrey H, Abbott, Kevin R, Sherratt, Thomas N
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Sprache:eng
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Zusammenfassung:Although exceptional examples of adaptation are frequently celebrated, some outcomes of natural selection seem far from perfect. For example, many hoverflies (Diptera: Syrphidae) are harmless (Batesian (1)) mimics of stinging Hymenoptera (2). However, although some hoverfly species are considered excellent mimics, other species bear only a superficial resemblance to their models (3) and it is unclear why this is so. To evaluate hypotheses that have been put forward to explain interspecific variation in the mimetic fidelity of Palearctic Syrphidae we use a comparative approach. We show that the most plausible explanation is that predators impose less selection for mimetic fidelity on smaller hoverfly species because they are less profitable prey items. In particular, our findings, in combination with previous results, allow us to reject several key hypotheses for imperfect mimicry: first, human
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/naturel0961