托福口语 Task 4

Today we're going to talk about a fascinating concept in biology called 'mimicry', specifically when harmless species evolve to look like dangerous ones. This is called Batesian mimicry. The main point is that this adaptation helps the harmless species survive by tricking predators into avoiding them. Let me give you two examples. First, consider the scarlet king snake. It has bright red, yellow, and black bands, very similar to the venomous coral snake. Predators that have learned to avoid coral snakes also avoid the king snake, even though it's harmless. Second, think about the viceroy butterfly. Its wings have orange and black patterns that closely resemble the monarch butterfly, which is toxic to birds. Birds that have tasted a monarch and gotten sick will avoid any butterfly that looks like it, including the viceroy. So in both cases, the harmless species gains protection by mimicking a dangerous one.