Ant Plant

We all know that insects eat plants and some plants return the favor and eat them, like the Venus Fly Trap. Plants eat insects (actually absorb) in order to get nutrients that may be hard to come by where they live. But, there is a plant that gets extra nutrients by simply providing a home for insects --- in this case ants. It is known commonly as the Ant Plant (Dischidia pectinoides). This native of Western Asia and the Western Pacific, for instance the Philippines, grows not in the ground, but on tree trunks and limbs as do many orchids. Botanists call them epiphytes, which means in Greek, epi-upon, phyte-plant.

The home the Ant Plant provides is a bladder-like structure that is really a modified leaf (See Photo). The ants enter and leave through a small hole at the base of the bladder where it attaches to the stem. In return for a home, the ant provides the plant with the carbon dioxide plants use to make food, using sunlight, through a process known as photosynthesis (Greek again), photo-light, synthesis placing within.

It also gets nutrients from the detritus (a fancy name for ant poop and the other good stuff the ants track in) the ants bring into their bladder home. These nutritious tid-bits are absorbed through the walls of the bladder as is the carbon dioxide exhaled by the ants. The ants probably benefit somewhat from the oxygen exhaled by the plant and no doubt by the shelter provided. Organisms benefit when they don’t have to expend much energy to gain something they need for their survival. It gives them a nice advantage.

Now why in the world did this amazing plant evolve such a unique way of earning extra income? Kinda like renting out a spare room. Maybe it’s not extra. Maybe in a habitat that is crowded with plants there is a lot of competition for carbon dioxide, all the other plants are sucking it up too as well as nutrients. Maybe to make ends meet, the Ant Plant really needs that extra income provided by its renters-- the ants.

Any other ideas as to why the Ant Plant goes to all this trouble?