Moving like a model: mimicry of hymenopteran flight trajectories by clearwing moths of Southeast Asian rainforests

Abstract

Clearwing moths are known for their physical resemblance to hymenopterans, but the extent of their behavioural mimicry is unknown. We describe zigzag flights of sesiid bee mimics that are nearly indistinguishable from those of sympatric bees, whereas sesiid wasp mimics display faster, straighter flights more akin to those of wasps. In particular, the flight of the sesiids , and resembles both and stingless bees and, to a lesser extent, dwarf honeybees, whereas the sesiid sp. resembles sp. wasps. These findings represent the first experimental evidence for behavioural mimicry in clearwing moths.

trajr: An R package for characterisation of animal trajectories

“…To visualise the indices, the first two components from a principal component analysis were plotted, which reveals two clusters, one containing the trajectories of bee mimics and bees, and the other containing wasp mimics and wasps (Figure ), in agreement with the conclusions of Skowron Volponi et al. ().…”

“…To increase its chances of avoiding predator attack, a mimic may imitate not only the morphology of a model, but also its behaviour, including movement. trajr has been used to calculate and compare trajectory indices of mimetic clearwing moths (family Sesiidae) and their models: bees and wasps (Skowron Volponi, McLean, Volponi, & Dudley, ) providing evidence for flight path mimicry. This method has also been used to investigate imperfect locomotor mimicry in ant‐mimicking spiders (McLean, ).…”

“…Trajectories are from Skowron Volponi et al. (). [Colour figure can be viewed at wileyonlinelibrary.com]…”

Adaptive evolution of butterfly wing shape: from morphology to behaviour

“…Zheng et al ., ), to a whole flight trajectory of an animal in its environment (e.g. Skowron Volponi et al ., ) (Fig. ).…”

“…Extending these results to natural flights is however questionable, given the large spectrum of behaviours displayed by butterflies in the wild. Experiments conducted in large insectary or in nature will allow us to gain insights into variation in flight patterns within and among species (Betts & Wootton, ; Skowron Volponi et al ., ), or to focus on a particular behaviour (e.g. escape flight, see Combes et al ., ).…”