Natural selection for juvenile lizards mimicking noxious beetles.
Adult Eremias lugubris in southern Africa are concealingly colored and move with a typical lizard gait, but the jet-black and white juveniles are conspicuous and forage actively with arched backs. In color, gait, and size, juveniles mimic "oogpister" beetles (Carabidae: Anthia) that spray an acidic, pungent fluid when molested. This unique mimicry, which is believed to be the first reported case of a terrestrial vertebrate mimicking an invertebrate, seems to reduce predation on juvenile lizards.
D000220:Adaptation, Biological; D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001517:Coleoptera / Q000033:anatomy & histology; D008116:Lizards / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000502:physiology; D008124:Locomotion; D011235:Predatory Behavior