托福口语 Task 4

Today, we're going to talk about a fascinating concept in biology called 'mimicry.' Mimicry is when one species evolves to look or behave like another species, often to gain a survival advantage. There are two main types of mimicry: Batesian mimicry and Müllerian mimicry. Let me give you an example of each. First, consider the harmless king snake. It has evolved to look like the venomous coral snake, with similar red, yellow, and black bands. Predators avoid the king snake because they mistake it for the dangerous coral snake, so the king snake gains protection without being venomous itself. That's Batesian mimicry. Now, for Müllerian mimicry, think of two different species of stinging wasps, like the yellow jacket and the paper wasp. Both are actually venomous, but they look very similar to each other. Because they share the same warning colors, predators learn to avoid all wasps with those colors more quickly, reducing the number of attacks on each individual wasp. So, in Müllerian mimicry, both species benefit from the shared appearance.