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Post by piscesilim on May 7, 2007 23:08:18 GMT 8
Ant plants is a group of plants which symbiosis with ants. The plants provive food or shelter to the ants. While the ants provide protection or nutrients to the plant. The most famous ant plants are Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum from family Rubiaceae.   The stem at the base of the plants enlarge become a tuber. There got a lot of chambers inside the tuber which allow the ants to live inside. While ants nest inside the tuber, they will bring the food and debris into the tuber. What left over by the ant will decay and become the nutrients for the plants. Besides Myrmecodia and Hydnophytum , there still have a lot of ant plants from different family, includes the N. bicalcarata from Nepenthaceae and some Tillandsia from Bromeliaceae. More info about the ant plants. home.nc.rr.com/myrmecophyte/intro.html |
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Post by piscesilim on May 7, 2007 23:25:04 GMT 8
Ant plants do not eat insects but they culture insects! ;D Cool is it! But none of my ant plants got ants live together.  Still thinking how to attract the ants to nest inside the plants. Hmm....  |
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Post by David on May 7, 2007 23:38:27 GMT 8
Interesting plant lim. Saw it once in Cameron Highlands. Was very curious about it but did not buy it as I did not know much about it and did not know how to care for it. The tag said Ant Plant and only gave a short decription. Are they easy to care for? Maybe you should loan your ant plant to bifurcatum and see if it will attract the whole colony of ants from the staghorn fern to your ant plant. The one that bifurcatum parents are complaining about having alot of ants.  |
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Post by zakhren on May 7, 2007 23:38:50 GMT 8
Put some sugar or something on the plant? Haha. Ants can only move in if a queen comes or the whole colony moves. I'm not sure when ant colonies produce queens...
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Post by piscesilim on May 7, 2007 23:49:33 GMT 8
I am still learning in ant plants culture. So far, they are easy to keep like cps.
Yes.Zakhren. Thinking to put some sugar or honey. But as what you said, ants only move when queen move. May be have to adopt the queen to live inside.
Really hope one day my ant plants will have some colonies of ants which same as Bifurcatum's staghorn fern. ha ha... really hope...
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Post by piscesilim on May 10, 2007 22:20:53 GMT 8
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Post by David on May 10, 2007 22:42:13 GMT 8
Another favorite ant plants of mine. Tillandsia caput-medusae. It's also a kind of air plants. Oh, T. caput madusa is an ant plant? Did not know that. Nice specimen you have there. Mine is smaller than yours. |
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Post by atmccmn on May 11, 2007 15:17:03 GMT 8
Piscesilim, T. caput medusae only harbour ants as the find shelter at the leaf sheath of caput medusae or other bulbose base Tillies. The doesn't benefit much from the ants except for protection from poachers!
The ant plants like hydnophytums or mymercodias or others like lecanpteris and dischidia have hollow tubers or rather chambers specially for ants. In return, the ants will secrete formic acid which benefit the ants. A symbiosys between the ants and the plants
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Post by piscesilim on May 22, 2007 23:54:12 GMT 8
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Post by atmccmn on May 23, 2007 16:53:13 GMT 8
Nice plant and thanks for the infos. May I know how old is your plant?
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Post by piscesilim on May 23, 2007 17:37:22 GMT 8
I am not sure. I keep this fern more than 6 months already.
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Post by atmccmn on May 23, 2007 22:10:44 GMT 8
Interesting plant! cool.  |
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Post by ameliepoulain on May 24, 2007 22:41:00 GMT 8
andy, wanna raid the trees by the waterfall ;D
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Post by atmccmn on May 24, 2007 23:19:59 GMT 8
Too high up......Over 100 feet. Forget it.
Furthermore it's full of ants
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Post by piscesilim on May 24, 2007 23:55:01 GMT 8
Hmm... Did you mean Hydnophytum sp. in Sungai Ara?
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Post by ameliepoulain on May 24, 2007 23:55:43 GMT 8
Too high up......Over 100 feet. Forget it. Furthermore it's full of ants it's not the ant's & the height that's scaring me away  |
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Post by atmccmn on May 25, 2007 8:50:48 GMT 8
Hehehe.......not only you are afraid of that!
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Post by atmccmn on May 25, 2007 8:55:36 GMT 8
Hmm... Did you mean Hydnophytum sp. in Sungai Ara? Yep......abundantly avaliable......All are huge old specimen plant. That makes Michael Ooi's plant looks like seedlings! But like ameliepoulain said......it's not the ants that we are afraid of....   |
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Post by ameliepoulain on May 25, 2007 14:16:32 GMT 8
Hmm... Did you mean Hydnophytum sp. in Sungai Ara? Yep......abundantly avaliable......All are huge old specimen plant. That makes Michael Ooi's plant looks like seedlings! But like ameliepoulain said......it's not the ants that we are afraid of.... ah well... if we survive that, we might even walk away with a winning 4D no. ;D |
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Post by atmccmn on May 25, 2007 14:26:19 GMT 8
So....is it on! Wanna go........  |
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Still thinking how to attract the ants to nest inside the plants. Hmm.... 
