mimicry

A tiny pilot study found that so-called chameleon vines mimicked plastic leaves, but experts say poor study design and conflicts of interest undermine the report.

The behavior is the first example of a mammal mimicking a more-dangerous species.

Hand weeding of fields spurred an interloper to evolve a rice-like appearance, researchers conclude.

Distantly related, lookalike Heliconius species arrive at the same appearance using the same few genes, but regulated differently, according to recent studies.

Scientists used machine learning to analyze the coevolution of physical traits in butterflies.

Molecules produced by resident bacteria and their hosts may signal immune cells to attack the body’s own tissues.

Antigens originating from the microbiome may trigger an autoimmune response.

Over the course of their lives, the jumping spider Synemosyna formica wears two different ant disguises to fool preying birds.

Entomologists have rediscovered a species of moth that was considered lost for 130 years. 

With brown splotches artfully strewn against its bright yellow coloring, the striking imperial moth (Eacles imperialis) appears more leaf than Lepidoptera.

Umbrella flowers lure in flies by mimicking the alarm signals produced by the flies’ preferred prey.

Sorting the Beef from the Bull, Cheats and Deceits, A Sea of Glass, and Following the Wild Bees

A harmless snake in the Carolina Sandhills has been mimicking a poisonous species for decades, and has become a better imitator since the latter went extinct.

A butterfly’s varied disguises are controlled by variants of a single gene, partially confirming—and refuting—a decades-old hypothesis.

Mimicking a host-cell histone protein offers flu a sneaky tactic to suppress immune response.

What researchers are learning as they sequence, map, and decode species’ genomes

A roundup of recent studies in behavior research