Department of Molecular Biology, Faculty of Biology, University of Gdansk, 80-308 Gdansk, Poland
ClearWing Foundation for Biodiversity, 01-866 Warsaw, Poland.
Biol Lett. 2018 May;14(5). doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2018.0152.
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.
透翅蛾以其与膜翅目昆虫在外形上的相似性而闻名，但它们行为上的拟态程度尚不清楚。我们描述了拟态蜜蜂的透翅蛾呈之字形飞行，与同种的蜜蜂几乎无法区分，而拟态黄蜂的透翅蛾则表现出更快、更直的飞行方式，更类似于黄蜂。特别是，和 的飞行方式既类似于无刺蜜蜂，也类似于体型较小的西方蜜蜂，而 种的透翅蛾则类似于 种的黄蜂。这些发现代表了对透翅蛾行为拟态的首次实验证据。
