BATESIAN MIMICRY

a form of biological resemblance in which a noxious, or dangerous, organism (the model), equipped with a warning system such as conspicuous coloration, is mimicked by a harmless organism (the mimic). The mimic gains protection because predators mistake it for the model and leave it alone. This form of mimicry is named for its discoverer, the 19th-century English naturalist H.W. Bates. Compare Mllerian mimicry.