The future problems and possible solutions in insect mimicry

8 THE FUTURE PROBLEMS AND POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS IN INSECT MIMICRY 

The first one hundred years of the study of mimicry consisted almost entirely of visual observations, data that were often anecdotal, seldom even semi-quantitative, with few means of pushing beyond field observations. Even with these limitations, by combining careful observation and careful reasoning, a 

An example of a future trend is already well underway. Increasingly, the traditional question, palatable or unpalatable will be supplemented or supplanted by chemical characterization of the toxin and quantitative estimates of the amount present. Many of the puzzling cases that we are presented with today may be resolved with good data of this sort. And, increasingly, the data must represent statistically sound and geographically representative samples. 

Increasingly, automation and electronic equipment will replace or supplement human senses. Examples to date at Lloyd s (1980) recording of temporal data on firefly flashes, the recording of auditory signals (Gaul, 1952 Lane and Rothschild, 1965), or merely the ever increasingly accessibility of computer facilities (now handheld ) to process the statistical data. 

Lastly, I hope that the future will see a continuation of the current trend in the philosophy of the discipline. Too often in the past mimicry was viewed by those outside the discipline as a gee whiz sort of sideshow that said that earthworms must mimic beets because both live in the soil and both are dark red To be sure, there was some of this in the past, but it should not have been allowed to overshadow the excellent work that has been done in the field and the laboratory. If the next twenty years bring about as many advances as the last twenty, we may enter the new century without worry in this regard. I believe we will. 

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