The selective consequences for the signal receiver of responding to the model are always positive (the reaction would disappear if, on balance, it were unfavourable to the receiver). The mimic always has a selective advantage in releasing the reaction from the receiver. An unfavourable signal by the mimic would also disappear by natural selection.
The selective consequence for the model eliciting and obtaining the reaction from the receiver may be of several types. Consequences may be absent, if the model is an inanimate object on which natural selection does not act. They may be negative, if the model is non-aposematic (non-warning), such as the tiny crustacean, usually eaten by the signal receiver and mimicked by the male Corynopoma characin in order to attract the female. Or they may instead be positive, as in the wasp, which remains alive if it is avoided by the predator; in the cleaner, which feeds on parasites harmful to other fish; or in those hymenopteran females whose male-attracting signals are mimicked by certain orchids. Mutual interest is present between model and receiver in cases of aggressive mimicry where both parties belong to the same particular species