Viceroy Butterfly ~ Monarch Butterfly Mimic
Now that my native wildlife garden is becoming established, I have more time to sit back and observe all the different types of insects that visit my yard. In the last two years, I’ve been absolutely amazed with the amount of new insects many of which are trying to mimic something else.
Mimicry is defined as “a form of deception where one insect evolves a superficial resemblance to another resulting in a distinct advantage to the mimic, which usually enjoys protection or better access to food for either itself or its offspring. This does not happen by conscious effort on the part of the insect. The successful characteristics gradually evolve over thousands of years through a process of natural selection. Characters that evolve and increase chances of survival against predation are passed onto the following generations.” (Biodiversity Exlorer website)
Perhaps the best example of mimicry in the insect world is the Viceroy Butterfly, the black and orange coloration which is almost identical to the Monarch Butterfly. Because the Monarch Butterfly solely feeds upon Milkweed species, they build toxic alkaloids in their bodies making them unpalatible to predators.
Many fly species are amazing mimics too. Common flower visitors, Syprhid or Flower flies look like a bee or wasp with their black and yellow coloration. They can freely visit flowers for pollen and nectar dressed like wasps.
Robber Fly
Robber flies, much larger than Syrphid flies and are voracious predators of other insects. Many are clothed like bumble bees, with stout hairy bodies. They will fly around in the open sunny areas of our yard, land on a leaf and wait for their prey to pass by. They will often catch insects much larger than themselves such as dragonflies.
Stilt Legged Fly
I first spotted a Stilt Legged Fly last year in the yard. They’re
Ichneumon Wasp (Ichneumon centrator)
hard to miss because they wave their white forelegs up and down resembling moving antennae. This may be a ploy to mimic several types of Ichneumon wasps who have white markings on their antennae.
Sphegina fly
Other flower visiting flies look like thread waisted wasps such as this Sphegina species.
Locust Borer Beetle
Even flower visiting beetles may have protection from mimicry such as the Locust Borer Beetle, a common late summer flower visitor.
I encourage you to take a closer look at the insect visitors in your landscape, you’ll be surprised how many are not what the seem.
© 2012, Heather Holm. All rights reserved. This article is the property of Native Plants and Wildlife Gardens. If you are reading this at another site, please report that to us
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Great post- you know I enjoy a good mimic!
David recently posted..Native Plant Guides
David, I love hearing about your Montana finds too.
Heather Holm recently posted..Golden Alexander Faunal Associations
I love these fascinating creatures…I am also trying to learn more and observe more about the visitors in my garden.
Donna@ Gardens Eye View recently posted..Simply The Best-May
Donna – looking forward to hearing about your discoveries.
Heather Holm recently posted..Golden Alexander Faunal Associations
I had just posted about flower flies for my weekly Nature Notes meme and I am happy to learn about these other insects…Michelle
Glad you like the Insects in the Garden book Michelle, sounds like it’s coming in handy for identification.
Heather Holm recently posted..Golden Alexander Faunal Associations
Heather, What an interesting article. I’m going to have to start paying more attention to the insects in my garden. I’ve been noticing all the amazing camoflauge on the small mammals in my garden but I’m sure I’ve looked right past some of the mimics.
Debbie recently posted..Garden Designers Roundtable: Our Home Gardens
Debbie, I’m sure you have some wonderful examples in your garden to discover.
Heather Holm recently posted..Golden Alexander Faunal Associations
It is a fascinating subject. Thanks for these nice examples. There are a few more here:
http://bugguide.net/node/view/33289
http://bugguide.net/node/view/340949
Beatriz Moisset recently posted..Cisseps fulvicollis, a better known moth pollinator
Thanks for the links Beatriz, very informative! Fascinating read about all the different types of mimicry.
Heather Holm recently posted..Golden Alexander Faunal Associations
Heather
great post. I was actually just fooled by a Viceroy butterfly in the nursery this weekend! I got all excited thinking it was an unusually early monarch – and then it dawned on me finally that it was in fact Viceroy. still lovely. but definitely a great mimic!
Great to hear Emily, I don’t see Viceroys very often. I think we’re all fooled more than we’d like to believe by these mimics. Keeps us on our toes
Heather Holm recently posted..New Moth Discovery