Re: Bee Coloration - conspicuous warning or camouflage?

Bill Angel said:

>
>As I stated in a previous post, I had observed that when Yellowjackets discovered
>a food source such as a collection of rotting apples which camouflaged their
>presence, they kept returning to this food source (over a period of several days)
>until the food source  was exhausted.

Coincidence.  

Where would they *ever* be able to search for caterpillars and the like that 
*wouldn't* be green plants?  
>
>Had these Yellowjackets chosen to feast on ripe raspberries, as they did in your
>garden, and had the natural predators which controlled the Yellowjacket population
>been present, then these Yellowjackets would have been noticed by the predator
>and would have been eaten. (That's my "thesis" anyway, which is certainly open
>to being disputed <grin>)

Why then are there so many conspicuously colored stinging insects -- and so many
harmless imitators?  How do you explain moths and beetles that imitate bees and 
wasps?  Aren't they taking advantage of the wasp's reputation for stinging?


For instance, the squash borer moth flies during the day, is a conspicuous orange
and black, flies with its legs dangling like a wasp -- and is perfectly harmless.
It *never* feeds or rests anywhere where black and orange would be inconspicuous.
But it's a good enough mimic to induce a bit of hesitation -- just long enough, often 
enough, to allow it to escape.

-- 
Pat K.
   
Any technology distinguishable from magic is insufficiently advanced.
(attributed to Don Marti)