The Greek derived category names include the now widely used aposematic and cryptic, alongside such epithets as "apatetic", "procryptic", "anticryptic", "episematic" and "epigamic", with variants.

The neural mechanisms involved in stridulation and epigamic behaviour of several species of Orthoptera have been intensively studied (Huber, 1965; Elsner and Huber, 1973).

In the red-collared widowbird there is a strong trade-off between carotenoid coloration, which is an agonistic signal and tail length, which is an epigamic signal, directly attracting females.

It has been suggested that the paranotal lobes of insects were at first connected with epigamic behaviour (Alexander and Brown, 1963) but it is perhaps more likely that they were associated with locomotion from the beginning.