Flowers with Sex Appeal
(Page 2 of 2)
July/August 2008
Jennifer Nemec
Then,
a couple of enterprising fellows did a study to determine the pala-tability of
the Viceroy and Monarch. They also threw in some Queen butterflies (a southern
relative of the Monarch) and tasty swallowtail-types as a control group. Like
me, you might be picturing the “blind taste test” ?– “four out of
five blackbirds prefer the taste of Swallowtails to Monarchs.” You’re not far
off.
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David Ritland and Lincoln Brower fed butterfly abdomens
(without their tell-tale wings) to red-winged blackbirds and watched which ones
they ate. Published in Nature on April 11, 1991, their findings showed
that Viceroys may be even less tasty than Monarchs.
This makes them Mullerian mimics, a relationship where
several species that are unattractive to predators share a color scheme.
Another example of Mullerian mimicry would be those brightly colored, and
incredibly toxic, poison dart frogs in the Amazon. And have you ever noticed
how many stinging insects have black and yellow stripes?
One of the mysteries of mimicry is why the “fooled”
organisms don’t learn the difference. One of the theories about our poor wasp
is that he has such a small chance of getting a date that he has no choice but
to check out every venue. So, the smug little orchid can rest easy knowing
he’ll keep coming back, even if he’s been fooled before.
Associate Editor Jenn Nemec has been interested in
insects since her 4-H days, developing the ability to use the word “proboscis”
in a sentence.
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