Mullerian mimicry is when two harmful species mimic each other’s appearance to scare off predators. This is a form of aposematism, where dangerous organisms signal their defenses through striking colors. The concept was first proposed by Fritz Muller in 1878 and reconciled with field observations by William Bates.
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 off predators. These animals may have a common predator and thus experience mutual gain when their body patterns are associated with danger in the predator’s eyes, causing them to pass by. The most commonly cited example of Müllerian mimicry is in butterflies, various lineages of which have similar colored patterns on their wings to help scare off predators. The real repulsion mechanism of the butterfly is its unpleasant taste.
Mullerian mimicry is one of many forms of mimicry employed by organisms to help them survive. The basis of many types of mimicry is aposematism, the strategy by which dangerous organisms (wasps, poisonous frogs, etc.) signal their defenses to predators through striking colors such as bright yellow, orange, purple or red . This is a naturally opposite strategy to cryptis, where the organism tries to survive by attracting as little attention as possible, as in mimicry. Some organisms even employ both, trying to appear inconspicuous until noticed, at which point they flash warning colors or symbols. This dual strategy is found in many snakes and amphibians.
The concept of Mullerian mimicry was first proposed in 1878 by Fritz Muller, a German naturalist and early proponent of Darwin’s theory of evolution. In the decades immediately following the theory’s publication, naturalists spent a great deal of time trying to explain some apparent holes in the theory, reconciling it with field observations. A British naturalist, William Bates, studied Brazilian butterflies and came up with the concept of Batesian mimicry, whereby a harmless species imitates a harmful species, fooling predators into thinking it is harmful. This showed how independently evolving lineages could come to resemble one another through natural selection. What he confused was why even harmful species resembled each other. Muller answered this question with his proposal of Mullerian mimicry.
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