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ANATOMICAL AND ULTRASTRUCTURAL ASPECTS OF THE ANT‐FOOD CELL OF PIPER CENOCLADUM C.DC. (PIPERACEAE)
Author(s) -
Rickson Fred R.,
Risch Stephen J.
Publication year - 1984
Publication title -
american journal of botany
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.218
H-Index - 151
eISSN - 1537-2197
pISSN - 0002-9122
DOI - 10.1002/j.1537-2197.1984.tb11982.x
Subject(s) - biology , piper , petiole (insect anatomy) , ant , piperaceae , ultrastructure , pheidole , botany , understory , ecology , hymenoptera , canopy
Piper cenocladium is a common understory species in the wet primary forested areas of Costa Rica. The plant possesses a petiole chamber which is usually occupied by the ant Pheidole bicornis. The plant/ant relationship is unique in that the ant must be present for meaningful numbers of ant‐food bodies to be differentiated. The food body is a lipid storing, single cell developed from one adaxial petiole epidermal cell. Cellular aspects of this differentiation process are described with particular reference to nucleolar ultrastructure.