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Pothos subgenus Allopothos contains
several species with shingling habit (notably in Sarawak P. barberianus
and P. ovatifolius). While I have sometimes (and on occasion
memorably painfully) met with species harbouring ants (sometimes semut api -
fire ants) under the leaves it does not seem to be an obligate symbiosis in
action; in part it seems that species that are obligate symbionts have the
shingle-leaves somewhat convex in relation to the climbing surface, thus
providing a 'home' for the ants whereas these Pothos are all mainly
closely pressed to the climbing surface and only ocasionally are the leaves
sifficiently convex to enable ants to inhabit beneath them.
For the record the juvenile of Rhaphidophora
korthalsii, R. tenuis and R. beccarii are shingle-plants
and R. latevaginata remains shingling throughout its entire life also
occasionally harbour ants, as, too, does R. korthalsii and R.
tenuis in the dense fibrous degraded cataphylls, prophylls and petiolar
sheathes that clothe the active shoot tips.
Peter
----- Original Message -----
From:
a*@hotmail.com
To: aroid-l@gizmoworks.com
Sent: Friday, February 09, 2007 1:19
PM
Subject: Re: [Aroid-l] Myrmecophilous
Monstera????
I have seen this in shingling juvenile Pothos in Borneo, but whether the
relationship is mutualistic I have no idea: nor aware of any research having
been done... Again Peter is needed for an Old World answer!
Alistair
From: Jonathan Ertelt <j*@vanderbilt.edu>
Reply-To: Discussion
of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
To: Discussion
of aroids <aroid-l@gizmoworks.com>
Subject: Re:
[Aroid-l] Myrmecophilous Monstera????
Date: Thu, 8 Feb
2007 10:45:23 -0600
>Adam,
>
>I'd be curious as to
whether the ants were truly living, i.e.
>nesting et al. under the
leaves, or just congregating and using the
>leaves as cover. I have
seen this sort of protective usage by both
>ants and termites as they
travel up and down tree trunks, both under
>shingle foliage and right
in next to bare stem vines that are
>anchored to the trees. Of
course, especially with termites,
>sometimes they build their own
tunnels that look remarkably like
>thinnish bare-stemmed vines going
up the tree. But all these cases I
>would suggest are more for
travelling purposes and not habitations.
>I'll be interested to hear
input from
others.
>
>Jonathan
>
>
>
>>While we
are on the subject of shingling aroids - A friend of mine
>>recently got back from Panama where she was doing some field
work,
>>and told me of how she found ants living under the
juvenile
>>shingling foliage of a particular Monstera species she
collected as
>>an herberium specimen. I had never heard of this
occurring, and was
>>curioius if ants do regularly live under the
shingle phase leaves
>>in a mutualistic relationship, as they are
well-known to do in Hoya
>>imbricata as well as several species of
Dischidia with similar
>>shingling habits. I just
figured if it did regularly occur I would
>>have heard about it by
now. Would be curious if ants are present in
>>Rhaphidophora as
well.
>>
>>Just
curious!
>>
>>Adam
>>
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