Pekár S, Martišová M, Špalek Tóthová A, Haddad CR. Mimetic accuracy and co-evolution of mimetic traits in ant-mimicking species.
iScience 2022;
25:105126. [PMID:
36185386 PMCID:
PMC9515603 DOI:
10.1016/j.isci.2022.105126]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/07/2022] [Revised: 07/19/2022] [Accepted: 09/09/2022] [Indexed: 11/17/2022] Open
Abstract
Myrmecomorphy is the most frequent type of Batesian mimicry. Myrmecomorphic species differ in the accuracy with which they resemble ants; however, the hypothesis of the co-evolution of mimetic traits has been rarely tested. Here, we measured dozens of traits of color, shape, size, and behavior, and quantified objectively the resemblance between dozens of arthropod mimics and ants. In all traits, the mimics were more similar to ants than to closely related non-myrmecomorphic species. We found that mimics resemble ants mainly in color and behavior, and less in size and body shape. We found that the mimetic accuracy in four trait categories demonstrate divergent co-evolutionary patterns. Mimetic accuracy in color was positively correlated with shape and size in insects but negatively in spiders, presumably reflecting developmental constraints. Accuracy in shape tend to be negatively related to movement in both insects and spiders supporting the motion-limited discrimination hypothesis.
We measured resemblance of ant mimics to ants in a number of arthropod species
Mimics resembled ants mainly in color and behavior, less in size and body shape
Ant mimics had similar behavior as ants but were smaller in body size
Resemblance in shape was negatively related to resemblance in color in spiders
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