This video, we're going to talk about a few other prey defense mechanisms that you should know about. Many prey exhibit behavioral adaptations, such as running or hiding from their predators, living as part of a group or a herd, and displaying active self-defense against their predators. Other prey will exhibit what's known as aposematic coloration as a defense mechanism, which is a warning coloration or an alarm coloration, in which the prey uses really bright colors to signal to their predators that it is unpalatable and should not be eaten. You can think that the "a" in aposematic is for the "a" in alarm. Other prey use mimicry as a defense mechanism, in which the prey is imitating either another animal, plant, or inanimate object.

There are two major forms of mimicry, which we highlight down below. The first is Batesian mimicry. In this type of mimicry, a harmless species mimics a harmful species. For example, this harmless little caterpillar right here is mimicking this harmful snake, and that helps this harmless caterpillar to deter many of its predators. On the other hand, Mullerian mimicry is when two or more harmful or unpalatable species share a similar coloration pattern. For example, this bee, this wasp, and this hornet are three different species that share a similar black and yellow striped pattern.

This type of mimicry, Mullerian mimicry, helps these three different species build their reputation as a harmful and unpalatable set of species. In Batesian mimicry, only the mimic is benefiting from this mimicry. However, in Mullerian mimicry, all of the species involved are benefiting from this mimicry. Down below, we have a little memory tool to help you differentiate these two types of mimicry. You can think of Batesian mimicry as a bluff, and so the "b" in Batesian is for the "b" in bluff. This harmless little caterpillar here is bluffing and imitating a harmful snake.

For Mullerian mimicry, you can think it has mutual benefits. You can think of the "m" in Mullerian as for the "m" in mutual benefits. All three of these different species here are benefiting from this type of mimicry. This here concludes our lesson, and I'll see you all in our next video.