MadSci Network: Zoology |
Guni, Unfortunately, my response is going to be a bit vague, because I'm not familiar with the insects you mention. I'd need a bit more specific name information to narrow down my response, but here's a start. Mimicry is a broad term referring to the resemblance of one organism to another. An organism may mimic another's color(s), pattern, form, behavior, or a combination of these traits. The overall goals are for the mimic to either avoid something it doesn't want (i.e. predation) or to get something it does want (mates, food, etc.). As for your wasp flies, I'm not sure exactly what their strategy is, because I don't know what specific kind of mimicry they exhibit. You mention that they need to avoid insect-feeding birds, and suggest that they may mature in late summer, so that potential predators may have already learned that things that look like wasp flies may sting. This is an interesting idea. If wasp flies don't sting (remember, I don't know anything about them), but their morphology, or form, is similar enough to that of stinging insects, then this form of mimicry may serve as protection against predation (mimicry leading to the avoidance of something the flies don't want.). In other words, if they look like they have stingers, and insect-eating birds thus avoid eating them, then this mimicry is helping them avoid predation, and increasing their overall fitness. I'm sorry I can't answer your question as to whether this hypothesis is true or not. I would want to know several things first: 1. Do these wasp flies sting? 2. If not, do they look like other insects which do sting? 3. Are there insect-eating (or insectivorous) birds overlapping the wasp fly habitat (i.e. Are insect-eating birds a potential threat?) 4. Could this body type/form serve another purpose? (i.e. is there some other advantage to having a pseudo-stinger? improved odds of mating?) I can think of a raft of other questions, but that's a good start. To answer your remaining questions, I'm afraid I don't know how abundant these flies are in the tropics, but I would run a web search on the scientific name (or the order, if the Genus and species are too specific) to see what additional information you can find. Or, my favorite research idea-- take a jaunt to the Entomology section of your local library and see what you can find. Regarding other cases of mimicry in insects: There are all kinds of wonderful examples of mimicry in insects. I found a few web sites which illustrate this point nicely. http://www.ndsu.nodak.edu/instruct/brewer/mimicry.htm a basic look at insect mimicry http://fig.cox.miami.edu/Faculty/Tom/bil160sp98/18_mimicry.html great example of Batesian mimicry http://www.thewildones.org/Animals/camo.html nifty images of various types of mimicry Have fun, and keep asking questions, Ruth
Try the links in the MadSci Library for more information on Zoology.