insects that eat other insects,
that eat bird poop, are not liked, so this moth developed a cunning plan, make itself look like two flies eating bird poop, and it worked! photograph Alexey Yakovlev/Wikimedia Commons, other insects do not eat it, Macrocilix maia, a moth native to Southeastern Asia, takes mimicry to a whole new level by
literally painting an entire scene on its wings, and as if
this visual representation of flies eating bird droppings wasn’t impressive
enough, the moth reportedly also gives off a pungent odour that could be
mistaken for actual bird droppings,
above photograph by Insectosaurus, the
evolution of Macrocilix maia was most likely random, eons ago, a slight
mutation caused a moth to have a pattern that somewhat resembled the clear
scene we now associate the whole species with, it proved effective enough to
keep predators at bay, so the genes were passed on, then natural selection
happened, the moths that suffered mutations toward the
flies-feasting-on-droppings pattern were more likely to reproduce, while
specimens featuring other motifs didn’t, it was survival of the fittest, and
the pattern likely evolved over generations, with the most believable pattern
outliving the others. The original patterns was probably nowhere as realistic
as it is today, but it evolved over time. This is probably still a work in
progress, with slight mutations making the picture even more
realistic, how amazing is that?
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