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 resemble another species, often for protection. There are two main types: Batesian mimicry and Mullerian mimicry. Let me explain with examples. First, Batesian mimicry occurs when a harmless species mimics a dangerous one to fool predators. For instance, the scarlet king snake is non-venomous but has bright red, yellow, and black bands, very similar to the deadly coral snake. Predators avoid the king snake because they mistake it for the coral snake. Second, Mullerian mimicry happens when two or more dangerous species evolve to look alike, which helps them share the cost of teaching predators. For example, the monarch butterfly and the viceroy butterfly both taste bitter to birds. Since they look similar, birds learn quickly to avoid all butterflies with that pattern, reducing the number of individual butterflies eaten during the learning process.