Miillerian Mimicry 



wolf or Aguara-guazu (Canis jubatus). Both 

 these species are chestnut in colour, with the 

 front of the legs black, and the ears lined 

 with white hair ; both inhabit the same regions 

 in South America. 



The second kind of mimicry Miillerian mimi- 

 cry is where one unpalatable creature resembles 

 another. This form of mimicry is named after 

 Fritz M tiller, who suggested the explanation now 

 usually accepted, namely, that " Life is saved by a 

 resemblance between the warning colours in any 

 area, inasmuch as the education of young inex- 

 perienced enemies is facilitated, and insect life 

 saved in the process." " It is obvious," writes 

 Poulton (p. 328 of Essays on Evolution], " that 

 the amount of learning and remembering, and 

 consequently of injury and loss of life involved in 

 these processes, are reduced when many species 

 in one place possess the same aposematic colour- 

 ing, instead of each exhibiting a different danger 

 signal. . . . The precise statement of advantage 

 was made by Mr Blakiston and Mr Alexander, 

 of Tokio. ' Let there be two species of insects 

 equally distasteful to young birds, and let it be 

 supposed that the birds would destroy the same 

 number of individuals of each before they were 

 educated to avoid them. Then if these insects 

 are thoroughly mixed and become undistinguish- 

 able to the birds, a proportionate advantage 

 accrues to each over its former state of existence. 



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