''Myrmecophila'' is a genus of plants belonging to the family

Orchidaceae Orchids are plants that belong to the family (biology), family Orchidaceae (), a diverse and widespread group of flowering plants with blooms that are often colourful and fragrant. Orchids are cosmopolitan distribution, cosmopolitan plants that ...

. It is native to southern

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

, the

West Indies The West Indies is an island subregion of the Americas, surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean and the Caribbean Sea, which comprises 13 independent island country, island countries and 19 dependent territory, dependencies in thr ...

and

Venezuela Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...

.Kew World Checklist of Selected Plant Families
/ref> Species in this genus are either

epiphytic An epiphyte is a plant or plant-like organism that grows on the surface of another plant and derives its moisture and nutrients from the air, rain, water (in marine environments) or from debris accumulating around it. The plants on which epiphyt ...

lithophytic Lithophytes are plants that grow in or on rocks. They can be classified as either epilithic (or epipetric) or endolithic; epilithic lithophytes grow on the surfaces of rocks, while endolithic lithophytes grow in the crevices of rocks (and are also ...

in their growth habit. Their slightly scented flowers are produced on pole-like growths that extend upwards from 1 to 4 meters high and take up to 4 months to develop. Several of the ''

Schomburgkia ''Schomburgkia'' was a genus of plants belonging to the family Orchidaceae. This genus was named for Richard Schomburgk, a German botanist who explored British Guiana during the 19th century. Former species of this genus were either epiphytic or l ...

'' species were transferred into the genus ''Myrmecophila'' by

Robert Allen Rolfe Robert Allen Rolfe (1855, Wilford, Nottinghamshire – 1921, Richmond, London, Richmond, Surrey) was an English botanist specialising in the study of orchids. For a time he worked in the gardens at Welbeck Abbey. He entered Kew in 1879 and became ...

in 1917. The name ''Myrmecophila'' is a derivative of the word ''

myrmecophile file:Panaphis juglandis.jpg , thumb , Myrmecophilous aphids being tended by ants Myrmecophily ( , ) consists of positive, Mutualism (biology), mutualistic, interspecies Association (ecology), associations between ants and a variety of other or ...

'' and refers to the

symbiotic Symbiosis (Ancient Greek : living with, companionship < : together; and ''bíōsis'': living) is any type of a close and long-term biolo ...

relationship with colonies of ants that are usually found living in the large, hollowed-out, banana-like

pseudobulb In botany, a pseudobulb is a storage organ found in many epiphytic and terrestrial sympodial orchids. It is derived from a thickening of the part of a stem between leaf nodes and may be composed of just one internode or several, termed ''heter ...

s. An opening in the base of each pseudobulb serves as an entrance for the ants which harvest nectar from the peduncles and flowers and forage on other plants in the community. The ants associated with '' Myrmecophila tibicinis'' pack many of the pseudobulbs with debris that includes other dead ants, a variety of insects, pieces of plant material, seeds and sand. ''Myrmecophila tibicinis'' directly utilizes minerals of the organic debris ("garbage dumps") deposited by the ants inside the hollow pseudobulbs. Since the open-canopied trees of the tropics can often be nutrient poor habitats, a small input of nutrients from insects can have a significant effect on plant survival and growth rates. ''Myrmecophila tibicinis'' can grow quite well in the absence of ants, though it is quite rare to find an uninhabited plant. The species of ant responsible for forming colonies in ''Myrmecophila tibicinis'' are as follows: ''

Brachymyrmex ''Brachymyrmex'' is a genus in the ants subfamily Formicinae. The genus can be recognized by the combination of having nine antennal segments (fewer than most ants) and the petiole concealed by the gaster in dorsal view. They are sometimes calle ...

'', ''

Camponotus planatus ''Camponotus planatus'', known generally as the compact carpenter ant or short carpenter ant, is one of three ''Camponotus'' species that is polygynous, or has more than one queen. It is a species of ant (family Formicidae).Sharkey M.J. (2007). '' ...

'', ''

Camponotus abdominalis ''Camponotus atriceps'', previously referred as ''C. abdominalis'', is a species of carpenter ant, endemic to the Americas. Habitat It has been found in a variety of moist and forested habitats, including wet lowland and rainforest, tropical rai ...

'', '' Camponotus rectangularis'', and ''

Crematogaster brevispinosa ''Crematogaster brevispinosa'' is a species of ant in tribe Crematogastrini. It was described by Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst May ...

'', '' Monomorium ebenium'', '' Paratrechina longicornis'', '' Zacryptocerus maculatus'', and ''

Ectatomma tuberculatum ''Ectatomma tuberculatum'', known in Qʼeqchiʼ as the kelep, is a Neotropical species of ant in the subfamily Ectatomminae. Common in the Neotropics, the species is found from Mexico to Argentina. It is a host A host is a person responsib ...

''.

Species

Species accepted as of June 2022:

Natural hybrids

References

Botanical Society of America

The World Checklist of Monocotyledons

External links

* *

*

* [https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=fr&u=http://nature.jardin.free.fr/orchidee/schomburgkia.html&sa=X&oi=translate&resnum=3&ct=result&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dmyrmecophila%26start%3D10%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN Jardin L'Encyclopédie]
Royal Horticultural Society: Registration of Orchids

{{Authority control Laeliinae Laeliinae genera Epiphytic orchids Ants

Species

Natural hybrids

See also

References

External links