What is Mullerian Mimicry?
Mullerian mimicry is a biological phenomenon whereby two harmful species, which may not be closely related, come to mimic each other in their external appearance to scare away predators. These animals may have a common predator, and therefore experience mutual gain when their body patterns are associated with danger in the eyes of the predator, causing them to be passed by. The most commonly cited example of Mullerian mimicry is in butterflies, various lineages of which have similar colorful patterns on their wings to help scare away predators. The butterfly’s actual repel mechanism is its foul taste.
