Illustration of Batesian mimicry

1861 Batesian mimicry

The book of science

Tom Sharp

Henry Walter Bates evolution Illustration of Batesian mimicry

Batesian mimicry

Henry Walter Bates studied butterflies in Brazil. Benign butterflies mimic the dangerous ones. Some toxic, some merely mimics.

The great adventure

The Naturalist on the River Amazons: A Record of the Adventures, Habits of Animals, Sketches of Brazilian and Indian Life, and Aspects of Nature under the Equator, during Eleven Years of Travel

Defensive mimicry

When North Koreans say they have an atom bomb, does it matter if it’s true? The bark may be worse than the bite, but hold up your head and stick out your chest. It might save you a fight.

Henry Walter Bates travelled to the Amazon Rainforest with his friend Alfred Russel Wallace. They intended to gather evidence for Darwin’s theory of evolution, and to support themselves by selling specimens of birds and insects to British museums. Bates collected eight thousand species that were new to science.

See also in The book of science:

Readings in wikipedia: