Observational analysis identifies Notocyrtus fornicatus mimicking Ptilotrigona lurida, suggesting complex mimicry dynamics.
Historically, theories of protective mimicry have dominated the literature. However, other mimicry hypotheses have gained ground, such as “aggressive mimicry”, in which a predator resembles another organism to achieve greater success in predation. This seems to be the case of Notocyrtus Burmeister, 1835, a genus remarkable for its mimicry of stingless bees through the development of a series of morphological and behavioral similarities. This paper records Notocyrtus fornicatus (Fabricius, 1794) as a potential mimetic of Ptilotrigona lurida (Smith, 1854) (Apidae: Meliponinae). Individuals of both species were observed together on the leaves of an Ipomoea cavalcantei D.F. Austin (Convolvulaceae Juss.) (Carajás flower), in the Carajás National Forest, Pará State, Brazil. So far, only a quarter of the Notocyrtus species have been reported with their mimetic models; additional records are needed for a better understanding of the mimetic relationships and their functions not only in the genus, but in Reduviidae as a whole.
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Cavalcanti et al. (2025) studied this question.
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