7.2 The real deal?: behavioral mimicry in hymenoptera

Author: Shalin S. Patel

Introduction

The theory of mimicry has been of interest to ecologists and evolutionary biologists for years, and has been called the “greatest post-Darwinian application of Natural Selection” (Rettenmeyer 1970). Mimicry has a fascinating role in affecting animal behavior and an even more amazing impact on the ecological and evolutionary success of organisms. Just about any characteristic or attribute can be mimicked, and the permutations for the roles of these mimetic behaviors in the lives of organisms are endless. In this chapter, we will explore behavioral mimicry within the Hymenopteran insect order, focusing heavily on ants, wasps, and to some degree, bees.

In order to adequately study mimicry, we must first establish a basic understanding of mimicry itself, and the model organisms we will be discussing. Insect mimicry made its debut into the primary literature in 1862, when Bates first proposed his theory of mimicry (Rettenmeyer 1970). Bates astutely realized that certain insects resembled another, and thus dubbed these imitations “mimics.” Batesian mimicry is based on six principles: 1) predators find the model organism unpleasant, 2) predators find the mimic to be acceptable but because it resembles the model closely, they leave it alone, 3) the models vastly outnumber the mimics, 4) the models and mimics are found in the same place at the same time, 5) predators find the models and mimics noticeable, and 6) the predators learn to correlate the model with dislike (Rettenmeyer 1970). Since then, the field has blossomed with the development of other types of mimicry, including Müllerian mimicry , Aggressive mimicry , and Wasmannian mimicry ( [link] , Pasteur 1982). These will be discussed later in the chapter.

The Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects. They are holometabolous insects named for their membranous wings. Ants, wasps, bees, and sawflies comprise the Hymenopteran order, and many species within this order are eusocial insects. We will consider specific examples of Hymenopterans throughout this chapter as they relate to behavioral mimicry.