Aggressive mimicry: A potential tool of Predators

Abstract

Mimicry is a similarity of one organism to another. Generally mimicry evolved to defend against the predators. But one form of mimicry adopted by some predators to attract and attack their prey is Aggressive mimicry. Aggressive mimicry is a form of mimicry in which predators, parasites or parasitoids share similar signals with a harmless model, to avoid being correctly identified by their prey or host. In this type of mimicry predator, parasite or pasasitoid mimic the different signals of its prey perception that may be food, sexual signals mutualistic species or prey itself. It is classified into different types based on the luring, number of species and taxa involved, based on model, etc. The success of this mimicry depends on the active planning, decision-making and flexibility of the mimic. Sexual signals mimicking by the predators are highly specific than the other signals. Research on aggressive mimicry holds exceptional potential for advancing our understanding of insect communication cognition which is having greater importance in insect ecology and in addition aids in speciation studies.