Butterfly mimicry rings (IMAGE)

Marine Biological Laboratory

Butterfly mimicry rings

Caption

Photo 1: Three examples of mimicry rings, with the middle row being a transparency ring. Butterflies in the first and second columns are unpalatable, and in the third are palatable. The key unpalatable butterfly in the transparency ring has an anti-glare coating on its wings, so in sunlight it’s easier for predators to see. While the butterflies look more closely related by rows, they are in fact more closely related (evolutionarily) by columns.

Credit

Meredith Protas and Nipam Patel

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