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How did Brazilian butterflies help Henry W. Bates explain Batesian mimicry?

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Müllerian mimicry: butterflies — mimicry *Heliconius* butterflies demonstrating Müllerian mimicry, a form of mimicry where one or more species exhibit closely similar warning systems. In this case, wing patterning and coloration among the species appear very similar.

In 1862, English naturalist Henry W. Bates published his explanation for the striking physical similarities between two distinct families of Brazilian butterflies: the Heliconiidae and the Pieridae.1

Bates observed that the Heliconiidae were unpalatable to birds and possessed conspicuous coloration, which served as a warning signal to predators that had learned of their inedibility through experience. In contrast, the Pieridae were edible. Bates concluded that the edible Pieridae gained a survival advantage by mimicking the warning patterns of the noxious Heliconiidae, effectively deceiving predators into avoiding them.12

This phenomenon, where a harmless species adopts the appearance of a dangerous or unpalatable model to gain protection, was named Batesian mimicry in his honor. His work provided significant empirical support for Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution by demonstrating the operation of natural selection in animal mimicry.213