The first step we are going to take in order to know the meaning of the term mimicry is to discover its etymological origin. In this case, we have to emphasize that it is a neologism that comes from Greek, since it is made up of several lexical components of said language:
-The word “mimetés”, which can be translated as “imitator”.
-The suffix “-ism”, which is used to indicate “condition” or “state”.
It was in the 19th century that this term was given shape and the person in charge of doing so was the English naturalist and geologist Samuel Pickworth Woodward (1821 – 1865). Specifically, the first time he used that word was in his book titled “A Manuall of the Mollusca” (1951).
Mimicry is the act and result of mimicking or mimicking . This verb (mimic), meanwhile, refers to copying something from another or adopting the appearance of creatures or elements of the environment .
The concept is used with reference to the property of certain species of plants and animals that are capable of modifying their appearance to resemble other beings . Mimicry allows them to achieve certain advantages over other specimens that live with them.
This ability, therefore, aims to produce deception . The other animals , upon seeing a mimicked specimen, confuse it.
Among the words that can function as synonyms for mimicry are camouflage, concealment, adaptation, disguise, imitation or similarity, for example.
There are different kinds of mimicry. Müllerian mimicry , described by Fritz Müller in 1878 , is that developed by two or more dangerous species that, by sharing predators, mimic warning signals.
Batesian mimicry , for its part, is developed by a species that copies the traits of another that has greater defensive resources. This way it imitates stingers or thorns, for example , so that predators, upon observing it, desist from attacking it. The expert who detailed how this mimicry works was Henry Walter Bates .
Automimicry , meanwhile, consists of making one part of the body mimic another, more vulnerable sector. In this way, the predator finds two seemingly identical regions to attack, which allows the animal that uses mimicry to increase its chances of surviving and escaping.
It should be noted that, although mimicry is usually associated with camouflage , both strategies are not exactly the same. Camouflage is based on imitation of the environment in general, while mimicry aims to resemble other beings in said environment.
Starting from the latter we have to talk about what is known as military mimicry or military camouflage. This term refers to the ability of a target to go completely unnoticed in the eyes of an enemy.
This mimicry is not only carried out by the soldiers, who when fighting outdoors wear their clothes green and even paint their faces that same color, but also through their vehicles. Thus, we can find, for example, tanks with the usual camouflage colors: green and brown. It is the way for them to go unnoticed among the vegetation and not be noticed by the enemy.