What is Batesian mimicry?

Batesian mimicry refers to a survival strategy where a non-harmful species evolves to resemble a harmful or toxic species. This mimicry allows the harmless organism to avoid predation, as predators learn to associate certain coloration or patterns with danger. For instance, a palatable butterfly species that mimics the bright colors of a poisonous butterfly can benefit from this similarity. Predators, having a learned aversion to the harmful species, will often avoid the mimic as well, leading to enhanced survival for the non-harmful species.

The other concepts pertain to different forms of mimicry or biological phenomena. For example, harmful animals appearing harmless would relate more to another concept known as aggressive mimicry, where the predator mimics a harmless organism to lure prey. Similarly, two harmful species resembling each other relates to Mullerian mimicry, where both species benefit from their shared warning coloration as it reinforces predators' avoidance of both. Finally, mutations leading to diverse coloration do not specifically describe mimicry but rather diversification within a species that may occur for various evolutionary reasons, not necessarily involving mimicry dynamics.