Many of the species of these spiders, moreover, are very conspicuously coloured, being either wholly black or black relieved by fiery red spots, forcibly suggesting that they are warningly coloured.
Some of the species of Aviculariidae also appear to be warningly coloured with black or black and red, and their coloration is associated with the urticating nature of their bristles, which makes them highly unpalatable to vertebrate foes.
These experiments have shown that Arthropods also have their likes and dislikes in the matter of insect-food and frequently refuse to eat insects which are warningly coloured and are distasteful to vertebrated enemies.
In East and South Africa there is a genus of Mustelidae known as Ictonyx (Zorilla) which possesses a foetid odour and is warningly coloured with black and white bands after the manner of skunks.
It is possible that this resemblance is mimetic in the Batesian sense of the word, and that the Poecilogale, if inoffensive, profits by its likeness to the highly offensive and warningly coloured Ictonyx.
