Mimicry has been suggested as a grazing avoidance mechanism for plants
. This study examined the ability of a mammalian herbivore to generali
ze conditioned flavor aversions (CFAs) to determine if the conditions
for plant mimicry exist. Nine sheep (treatment group) were averted to
cinnamon on ground rice while an additional 9 sheep (control group) re
ceived cinnamon on rice with no negative post-ingestive consequences.
When offered a choice between wheat and cinnamon-flavored wheat the co
ntrol group ingested more (P < 0.05) cinnamon-flavored wheat (45 +/- 6
%) than did the treatment group (3 +/- 1%) in four test periods. This
implies that herbivores generalize CFAs and thus non-poisonous plants
could mimic the flavor of poisonous plants to avoid grazing. Next, the
animals were given a choice between soybean meal (SBM) in a food box
which smelled of cinnamon and SBM in a food box with no added odor. Th
e treatment group ate less (P < 0.05) SBM with cinnamon odor than did
the control group in the first test period (13 +/- 10% vs 58 +/- 11%).
However, the following three periods revealed no intake differences b
etween control and treatment animals. This suggests that odor alone is
not persistently effective in preventing herbivory by sheep, but that
both taste and odor must be similar for one plant to successfully mim
ic another.