researchers at Jyväskylä University in Finland studied how wild great tits reacted to images of the wings of butterflies and the faces of owls . The tits were frightened and tried to flee at the sight of owl faces with open eyes , and butterflies that had butterfly spots on them that mimiced owl eyes . They believe their study is evidence that butterfly eye spots mimic predators . researchers have long debated whether butterfly eye spots were an example of Batesian mimicry or if the patterns simply served to confuse predators .
Biologists at Jyväskylä University in Finland studied how wild great tits reacted to images of the wings of butterflies and the faces of owls . The tits were startled and tried to flee at the sight of owl faces with open eyes , and butterflies that had eye spots on them that mimiced owl eyes . They say their study is evidence that butterfly eye spots mimic predators . Scientists have long debated whether butterfly eye spots were an example of Batesian mimicry or if the patterns simply served to confuse predators .