<P> An "evolutionary arms race" can be seen between predator and prey species . The Lepidoptera have developed a number of strategies for defense and protection, including evolution of morphological characters and changes in ecological lifestyles and behaviors . These include aposematism, mimicry, camouflage, and development of threat patterns and displays . Only a few birds, such as the nightjars, hunt nocturnal lepidopterans . Their main predators are bats . Again, an "evolutionary race" exists, which has led to numerous evolutionary adaptations of moths to escape from their main predators, such as the ability to hear ultrasonic sounds, or even to emit sounds in some cases . Lepidopteran eggs are also preyed upon . Some caterpillars, such as the zebra swallowtail butterfly larvae, are cannibalistic . </P> <P> Some species of Lepidoptera are poisonous to predators, such as the monarch butterfly in the Americas, Atrophaneura species (roses, windmills, etc .) in Asia, as well as Papilio antimachus, and the birdwings, the largest butterflies in Africa and Asia, respectively . They obtain their toxicity by sequestering the chemicals from the plants they eat into their own tissues . Some Lepidoptera manufacture their own toxins . Predators that eat poisonous butterflies and moths may become sick and vomit violently, learning not to eat those species . A predator which has previously eaten a poisonous lepidopteran may avoid other species with similar markings in the future, thus saving many other species, as well . Toxic butterflies and larvae tend to develop bright colors and striking patterns as an indicator to predators about their toxicity . This phenomenon is known as aposematism . Some caterpillars, especially members of Papilionidae, contain an osmeterium, a Y - shaped protrusible gland found in the prothoracic segment of the larvae . When threatened, the caterpillar emits unpleasant smells from the organ to ward off the predators . </P> <P> Camouflage is also an important defense strategy, which involves the use of coloration or shape to blend into the surrounding environment . Some lepidopteran species blend with their surroundings, making them difficult to spot by predators . Caterpillars can exhibit shades of green that match its host plant . Others look like inedible objects, such as twigs or leaves . For instance, the mourning cloak fades into the backdrop of trees when it folds its wings back . The larvae of some species, such as the common Mormon (Papilio polytes) and the western tiger swallowtail look like bird droppings . For example, adult Sesiidae species (also known as clearwing moths) have a general appearance sufficiently similar to a wasp or hornet to make it likely the moths gain a reduction in predation by Batesian mimicry . Eyespots are a type of automimicry used by some butterflies and moths . In butterflies, the spots are composed of concentric rings of scales in different colors . The proposed role of the eyespots is to deflect attention of predators . Their resemblance to eyes provokes the predator's instinct to attack these wing patterns . </P> <P> Batesian and Müllerian mimicry complexes are commonly found in Lepidoptera . Genetic polymorphism and natural selection give rise to otherwise edible species (the mimic) gaining a survival advantage by resembling inedible species (the model). Such a mimicry complex is referred to as Batesian and is most commonly known in the example between the limenitidine viceroy butterfly in relation to the inedible danaine monarch . The viceroy is, in fact, more toxic than the monarch and this resemblance should be considered as a case of Müllerian mimicry . In Müllerian mimicry, inedible species, usually within a taxonomic order, find it advantageous to resemble each other so as to reduce the sampling rate by predators that need to learn about the insects' inedibility . Taxa from the toxic genus Heliconius form one of the most well - known Müllerian complexes . The adults of the various species now resemble each other so well, the species cannot be distinguished without close morphological observation and, in some cases, dissection or genetic analysis . </P>

Insect that looks like a wasp dan word