Question

Millipedes in the Appalachian Mountains include several unrelated species that resemble species that resemble each other. Specifically, they have a similar color pattern. Describe the coevolutionary process among these millipedes while describing/defining the type of mimicry that these millipedes illustrate.

Answer 1

Müllerian mimetic system is considered to be operable in this millipede tribe in the Appalachian mountains

Mullerian mimicry is a natural phenomenon in which two or more well-defended species, often foul-tasting and that share common predators, have come to mimic each other's honest warning signals, to their mutual benefit.

They show colour pattern mimicry ,analogous to tropical butterflies .

Being blind there can be no sexual selection acting on warning color. In contrast, many other mimetic species, such as Heliconius butterflies, use color patterns in mate choice, such that multiple selection pressures need to be considered to fully understand color pattern evolution.