Aposematic coloration
aposematic coloration The bright coloration of animals with effective physical or chemical defenses that acts as a warning to experienced predators. The larvae of the monarch butterfly and Phymateus morbillosus, a foaming grasshopper from South Africa, are two examples. The warning coloration alerts the predator, who may have eaten a similar-looking animal and was sickened by it, to avoid it. This also helps those species that mimic others in appearance, such as the viceroy butterfly and the monarch butterfly.
A New York tiger moth (Grammia virginiensis) exuding a toxic yellow froth from prothoracic glands. This is an example of lepi doptera showing chemical defense and aposematic coloration. (Courtesy of Tim McCabe)
