Practice question

A Batesian mimic sends a dishonest signal because its appearance predicts a defense that it does not possess. The warning phenotype is normally maintained by a genuinely noxious, venomous, or otherwise unprofitable model. Predators learn to avoid that phenotype after costly encounters with the model, then generalize their avoidance to the harmless mimic. The mimic thus gains survival benefits by exploiting information encoded in the model’s signal. Dishonesty here is functional rather than intentional: natural selection favors resemblance because receivers respond as though the mimic were defended. In Müllerian mimicry, all participating species are genuinely defended, so their shared warning signal is broadly honest and spreads the cost of predator education. A Mertensian model also possesses a real defense rather than falsely advertising one. Batesian systems are frequency dependent; if mimics become common, predators increasingly encounter edible individuals, the warning pattern loses reliability, and selection can favor predators that attack. Signal honesty therefore emerges from the statistical relationship between phenotype and defensive quality within the ecological community.