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Group 4
A dangerous orchid
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Introduction
Mimicry is an adaption in which a species, the mimic, has a morphological and/or behavioural resemblance to another species, the model. There are two main types of mimicry: defensive mimicry, in which the mimic is avoided by predators by resembling a unpalatable/nasty model and aggressive mimicry, in which the mimic resembles a harmless/attractive model in order to attract prey. O'Hanlon et al. (2014) provide the first description of a unique type of aggressive mimicry: the orchid mantis (Hymenopus coronatus) mimics the flowers of some species in order to attract insect pollinators as prey. A surprising result found by the authors is that live mantises attract more pollinators than the live flowers themselves (Figure 3 of their paper).
Assignment
Propose a mathematical model that portrays the dynamics of the system composed by the orchid mantis, the flowers they mimic and the pollinators that serve as prey. The model should be simple but biologically realistic. Also, your model should allow to explore relevant questions about the consequences of this dynamic.
Proposed Questions
- O'Hanlon et al. show that the orchid mantis uses mimicry and not camouflage to capture pollinators. What are the differences between those two dynamics?
- The authors make no conclusions about which plant species is being mimicked. How would the dynamics of this system change if there were more than one plant species serving as model?
- Theory predicts that mimics would occur in lower densities than their models. Is it possible for orchid mantis to maintain higher population densities than their flower model? If so, what mechanisms would allow this inversion?