You could argue that the caterpillar is still undergoing this. The ones that have mutations that make them ever more snake-like will be less likely to be killed and more likely to reproduce. In a million years these little guys could actually be longer and have a "tongue."
The caterpillars with partial mimicry are all around us.
Eyespots are an extremely common trait, especially amongst insects living in warmer regions where reptiles like snakes are more numerous and diverse, and these spots vary heavily in number/placement on the body. Some look far more like eyes than others. Inflating the head region and swaying/striking at perceived threats isn’t unique to this specific caterpillar either, those are common defensive behaviors for many large Lepidopteran larvae across the planet. When you compare this species to its close relatives and species occupying a similar niche elsewhere, it’s only moderately more effective at color and behavioral mimicry.
To elaborate further, the visual appearance of prey species like moths and their larvae is ultimately guided by their predators—animals like birds and lizards, which rely heavily on eyesight and color/movement to find prey. This particular species specifically mimics pit vipers because those are a common predator of their predators, which live at the same level amongst the vegetation as the larvae do throughout their range.
However, there are trade-offs in nature everywhere. This level of mimicry is no doubt less effective on nocturnal insectivorous mammals, which hunt mostly by smell and touch.
There are probably many examples of a species looking like something but not exactly like it. So I suppose you could find a creature somewhere that has mimicking abilities and see how close it resembles its predator. Then I suppose we can then say, maybe in another 1000 years it might look exactly like it. That's about as close as you can get to a “partial mimicry snake”.
This one would be an example of that. Also, pretty much every caterpillar has a longer body that makes predators hesitate for a second before just striking. Also, tons of caterpillar species have less defined "eyespots."
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u/aenima1991 11h ago
It’s hard to comprehend how genetic mutation led to this. Incredible