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Natural Selection for Müllerian Mimicry in Heliconius erato in Costa Rica

Woodruff W. Benson

Abstract

The natural color pattern of individuals of the unpalatable and mimetic butterfly Heliconius erato was altered to a unique nonmimetic pattern. When returned to natural populations, the nonmimetic individuals remained for shorter periods of time and received more wing damage indicative of predator attacks than did the controls. The results indicate that Müllerian mimicry was functioning to protect the butterflies from predation.

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Key concepts: Müllerian mimicry, Mimicry, Heliconius, Biology, Butterfly, Natural selection, Predation, Zoology