Beltian body

Beltian body

A Beltian body is a structure found on the leaves of some species of "Acacia". Beltian bodies, named after Thomas Belt, are found on the tips of each leaflet and are rich in lipids and proteins and often red in colour. They are believed to have evolved in a symbiotic relationship with ants. The ants live inside special plant structures (Domatia) or near the plant and keep away herbivores. Other ant-mutualism related plant structures include Beccarian, Mullerian and pearl bodies. [cite journal|journal=Oecologia|title=The exploitation of an ant-defended host plant by a shelter-building herbivore|volume=109|issue=3|pages=454–460|year=1997|first=Micky D.|last=Eubanks|coauthors=Kimberly A. Nesci, Mette K. Petersen, Zhiwei Liu & Horacio Bonfil Sanchez|doi=10.1007/s004420050105] [cite book|first=Carlos M.|last=Herrera|coauthors=Olle Pellmyr|year=2002|title=Plant-animal Interactions: An Evolutionary Approach|publisher=Blackwell Publishing
isbn=0632052678
]

ee also

* Plant defence against herbivory

References

External links

* http://waynesword.palomar.edu/acacia.htm


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужен реферат?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Beltian body — noun A structure found on the tips of leaflets in some acacias, rich in lipids and proteins, believed to have evolved as part of a symbiotic relationship with ants …   Wiktionary

  • Myrmecophily — (pronounced /mɜrmɨˈkɒfɨli/, US dict: mûr′·mĭ·kŏf′·ə·lē; literally ant love ) is the term applied to positive interspecies associations between ants and a variety of other organisms such as plants, arthropods, and fungi. Myrmecophily… …   Wikipedia

  • Myrmecophyte — Acacia ants Myrmecophyte (mər′mek•ə‚fīt; literally “ant plant”) is a plant that lives in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes.[1] These plants possess structural adaptations that… …   Wikipedia

  • Ant — For other uses, see Ant (disambiguation). Ants Temporal range: 130–0 Ma …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”