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Caterpillar Mimicry

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Defensive (anti-herbivory) Coloration in Land Plants

Abstract

Defensive caterpillar mimicry by plants was first suggested by Rothschild (1974, 1984) concerning the shape of stipules found along the branches of Passiflora caerulae that look like caterpillars, slugs or snails climbing along the stems. Soon after, Benson et al. (1975) proposed that the yellow-orange serrulate stipules of Passiflora platyloba and P. maliformi seem to mimic young heliconian caterpillars, but all this was not known to me till the year 2001.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology & Environment, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Haifa – Oranim, Tivon, Israel

    Simcha Lev-Yadun

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  1. Simcha Lev-Yadun
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Lev-Yadun, S. (2016). Caterpillar Mimicry. In: Defensive (anti-herbivory) Coloration in Land Plants. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-42096-7_56

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