Mimicry - Aggressive Mimicry

A less common but equally fascinating type of mimicry involves not only a model and a mimic, but a "dupe" species that is tricked by the mimicry. In the previously noted types of mimicry, the dupe is the predator who is tricked out of a potential food source, but in aggressive mimicry, the word is especially appropriate as being duped is lethal. In aggressive mimicry, the mimic is a predator who imitates, usually in behavior, a model species in order to draw in a dupe, who then becomes prey. An example of this occurs in spiders of the family Mimetidae (mimic), who attempting to draw in spiders of other species (dupe) as prey items, produce vibrations on the webs of the dupe that mimic the prey items (model) of the dupe. When the dupe is tricked, and approaches what it thinks is food, the mimic attacks it and eats it. Bolus spiders are another type of aggressive mimic. They produce chemicals that mimic the sex pheromones of particular moth species. When male moths approach what they perceive to be a female in order to mate with her, they are caught by the bolus spider and become prey.