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Myrmecophyte
Myrmecophytes (; literally "ant-plant") are plants that live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. These plants possess structural adaptations in the form of domatia where ants can shelter, and food bodies and extrafloral nectaries that provide ants with food. In exchange for these resources, ants aid the myrmecophyte in pollination, seed dispersal, gathering of essential nutrients, and defense. Domatia adapted specifically to ants may be called myrmecodomatia. Mutualism Myrmecophytes share a mutualistic relationship with ants, benefiting both the plants and ants. This association may be either facultative or obligate. Obligate In obligate mutualisms, the organisms involved are interdependent; they cannot survive on their own. An example of this type of mutualism can be found in the plant genus ''Macaranga''. All species of this genus provide food for ants in various forms, but only the obligate specie ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cecropia
''Cecropia'' is a Neotropical genus consisting of 61 recognized species with a highly distinctive lineage of dioecious trees. The genus consists of pioneer trees in the more or less humid parts of the Neotropics, with the majority of the species being myrmecophytic.Berg, Rosselli & Davidson (2005) Berg and Rosselli state that the genus is characterized by some unusual traits: spathes fully enclosing the flower-bearing parts of the inflorescences until anthesis, patches of dense indumentums (trichilia) producing Müllerian bodies (food) at the base of the petiole, and anthers becoming detached at anthesis. ''Cecropia'' is most studied for its ecological role and association with ants. Its classification is controversial; in the past, it has been placed in the Cecropiaceae, Moraceae (the mulberry family), or Urticaceae (the nettle family).Burger (1977) The modern Angiosperm Phylogeny Group system places the "cecropiacean" group in the Urticaceae. The genus is native to the Am ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pseudomyrmex Ferruginea Ryan Somma
''Pseudomyrmex'' is a genus of stinging, wasp-like ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae. They are large-eyed, slender ants, found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the New World. Distribution and habitat ''Pseudomyrmex'' is predominantly Neotropical in distribution, but a few species are known from the Nearctic region. Most species are generalist twig nesters, for instance, ''Pseudomyrmex pallidus'' may nest in the hollow stems of dead grasses, twigs of herbaceous plants, and in dead, woody twigs. However, the genus is best known for several species that are obligate mutualists with certain species of ''Acacia sensu lato, Acacia''. Other species have evolved obligate mutualism with other trees; for example ''Pseudomyrmex triplarinus'' is obligately dependent on any of a few trees in the genus ''Triplaris''.Larrea-Alcázar, D. M. and J. A. Simonetti. (2007)Why are there few seedlings beneath the myrmecophyte ''Triplaris americana''?. ''Acta Oecologica'' 32(1) 112–1 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmecia Urens
''Myrmecia urens'' is a species of ant in the genus ''Myrmecia'' (bulldog ants) found in Australia. Taxonomy Behaviour and ecology While pollination by ants is somewhat rare, the orchid ''Leporella fimbriata'' is a myrmecophyte Myrmecophytes (; literally "ant-plant") are plants that live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. These plants possess structural adaptations in the form of domatia where ants ... which can only be pollinated by the winged males of this species. Pollination of this orchid usually occurs between April and June during warm afternoons, and may take several days until the males all die due to their limited lifespan. The flower mimics ''M. urens'' queens, and so the males move from flower to flower in an attempt to copulate with it. References urens Insects described in 1865 Orchid pollinators Hymenoptera of Australia {{Myrmeciinae-stub ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Leporella Fimbriata
''Leporella fimbriata'', commonly known as ''hare orchid'' or ''fringed hare orchid'', is the only species in the flowering plant genus ''Leporella'' in the orchid family, Orchidaceae and is endemic to the southern Australia mainland. It is related to orchids in the genus '' Caladenia'' but has an unusual labellum and does not have hairy leaves. Its pollination mechanism is also unusual. Description ''Leporella fimbriata'' is a terrestrial, perennial, deciduous, sympodial herb with a few inconspicuous, fine roots and an oval-shaped tuber lacking a protective sheath. The tuber produces two "droppers" which become the daughter tubers in the following year. Unlike those in some other orchids, the droppers are produced well away from the parent tuber at the end of long, root-like stolons. There are one or two egg-shaped to lance-shaped, glabrous leaves at the base of the stem. The leaves are often small when the orchid flowers, but increase in size to long and wide, turning blui ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Pearl Bodies
Pearl bodies are small (0.5 - 3.0 mm), lustrous, pearl-like food bodies produced from the epidermis of leaves, petioles and shoots of certain plants. They are rich in lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, and are sought after by various arthropods and ants, that carry out vigorous protection of the plant against herbivores, thus functioning as a biotic defence. They are globose or club-shaped on short peduncles, easily detached from the plant, and are food sources in the same sense as Beltian bodies, Müllerian bodies, Beccarian bodies, coccid secretions and nectaries. They occur in at least 19 plant families (1982) with tropical and subtropical distribution. Cells or tissues that offer food rewards to arthropods are commonplace in the plant world and are an important way of establishing symbiotic relationships. Ants collect these energy-rich bodies (27.8 kJ/g dry weight) and carry them into their nests. Removal of these bodies appears to stimulate the formation of new ones in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Domatium
A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant. Ideally domatia differ from galls in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants, but the distinction is not sharp; the development of many types of domatia is influenced and promoted by the inhabitants. Most domatia are inhabited either by mites or ants, in what can be a mutualist relationship, but other arthropods such as thrips may take parasitic advantage of the protection offered by this structure. Domatia occupied by ants are called myrmecodomatia. An important class of myrmecodomatia comprise large, hollow spines of certain acacias such as '' Acacia sphaerocephala'', in which ants of the genera '' Pseudomyrmex'' and '' Tetraponera'' make their nests. Plants that provide myrmecodomatia are called myrmecophytes. The variety of the plants that provide myrmecodomatia, and the ranges of forms of such domatia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Myrmecodia Echinata 01
''Myrmecodia'' is a genus of epiphytic plants, present in Indochina, Malesia, Papuasia, and Queensland, Australia. It is one of five ant-plant genera in the family Rubiaceae, the others being '' Anthorrhiza'', '' Hydnophytum'', '' Myrmephytum'', and '' Squamellaria''. Myrmecophytes, or ant plants, live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and/or shelter. ''Myrmecodia'' are also classified as epiphytes. The term ''epiphytic'' derives from the Greek ''epi-'' (meaning 'upon') and ''phyton'' (meaning 'plant'). Epiphytic plants are sometimes called "air plants" because they do not root in soil. An epiphyte is a plant that grows harmlessly upon another plant and derives its nutrition and water supply from the air and debris found in its immediate environment. Epiphytes are a non-parasitic type of plant and differ from parasitic organisms in that this type of plant only relies on its host for physi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carbohydrate
A carbohydrate () is a biomolecule composed of carbon (C), hydrogen (H), and oxygen (O) atoms. The typical hydrogen-to-oxygen atomic ratio is 2:1, analogous to that of water, and is represented by the empirical formula (where ''m'' and ''n'' may differ). This formula does not imply direct covalent bonding between hydrogen and oxygen atoms; for example, in , hydrogen is covalently bonded to carbon, not oxygen. While the 2:1 hydrogen-to-oxygen ratio is characteristic of many carbohydrates, exceptions exist. For instance, uronic acids and deoxy-sugars like fucose deviate from this precise stoichiometric definition. Conversely, some compounds conforming to this definition, such as formaldehyde and acetic acid, are not classified as carbohydrates. The term is predominantly used in biochemistry, functioning as a synonym for saccharide (), a group that includes sugars, starch, and cellulose. The saccharides are divided into four chemical groups: monosaccharides, disaccharides, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Macar Bancan 170310-5304859 Mko
In Greek mythology, Macar (; Ancient Greek: Μάκαρ ''Makar'') or Macareus (; Μακαρεύς ''Makareus'' means 'happy') or Macareas (, ''Makareas''), is the name of several individuals: * Macareus, an Arcadian prince as one of the 50 sons of the impious King Lycaon either by the naiad Cyllene, Nonacris or by unknown woman. He was the eponym of the town of Macaria in Arcadia. Macareus and his siblings were the most nefarious and carefree of all people. To test them, Zeus visited them in the form of a peasant. These brothers mixed the entrails of a child into the god's meal, whereupon the enraged king of the gods threw the meal over the table. Macareus was killed, along with his brothers and their father, by a lightning bolt of the god. * Macareus, son of Aeolus and either Enarete or Amphithea.Plutarch, ''Parallela minora'' 28 *Macareus, a king of Locris and father to Euboea. He may be the same with Macareus, father of Megaclite who consorted with Zeus and became the mo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cross-pollination
Xenogamy (Greek ''xenos''=stranger, ''gamos''=marriage) is the transfer of pollen grains from the anther to the stigma of a different plant. This is the only type of cross pollination which during pollination brings genetically different types of pollen grains to the stigma. The term xenogamy (along with geitonogamy and autogamy) was first suggested by Kerner in 1876.{{cite book, last=Darwin, first=Charles, title=More Letters of Charles Darwin, Volume 2, date=August 2006, publisher=Echo Library, isbn=978-1-4068-0482-9 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=X9vMhLOiTmQC&dq=Xenogamy&pg=PA668, access-date=25 February 2012, page=668 Cross-pollination involves the transfer of pollen grains from the flower of one plant to the stigma of the flower of another plant. The main characteristics which facilitate cross-pollination are: * Herkogamy: Flowers possess some mechanical barrier on their stigmatic surface to avoid self-pollination, e.g. presence of gynostegium and pollinia in '' C ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
