Chapter 26, Problem 32A

Summary Introduction

To determine:

The benefit of a beetle to look like ant.

Introduction:

Some of the species evolve to look like each other to escape predation and this behavior is known as mimicry. It can be of two types, Batesian and Mullerian, in Batesian mimicry a non-harmful species evolves to look like harmful one and in Mullerian mimicry, two noxious species evolve to look like each other.

Explanation of Solution

In this case, where the beetle is evolved to look like an ant represents the Batesian mimicry. The ants, especially the soldier and the bullet ants are venomous in nature. So, when the predator eats these ant, they often get bitten by them, which leads to pain. So, when the beetle would look like these ants, predators would not really eat them in order to not get a venomous bite. Hence, this mimicry helps in the survival of the beetle.