Practice question · Multiple choice
A harmless hoverfly gains protection by resembling a stinging wasp. Yet if hoverflies become very common relative to wasps, the protection weakens. Why does the mimic's advantage depend on how rare it is?
Hints
- The predator has to learn the rule. Ask what its experience teaches it when mimics outnumber models.
- Whose reputation is the mimic living off?
Show the answer
A. Because the protection is borrowed from predators' experience.
Why
Batesian mimicry is parasitic on a reputation the mimic did nothing to earn, and every hoverfly eaten without consequence is evidence against the rule. Contrast Müllerian mimicry, where each additional bearer is genuinely defended and strengthens the lesson, one system is undermined by its own success, the other reinforced by it.
Practise Predator-Prey Interactions
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