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A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant.
Ideally domatia differ from
A video showing ants living inside a domatium
A domatium (plural: domatia, from the Latin "domus", meaning home) is a tiny chamber that houses arthropods, produced by a plant.
Ideally domatia differ from gall
Galls (from the Latin , 'oak-apple') or ''cecidia'' (from the Greek , anything gushing out) are a kind of swelling growth on the external tissues of plants, fungi, or animals. Plant galls are abnormal outgrowths of plant tissues, similar to be ...
s in that they are produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants, but the distinction is not sharp; the development of many types of domatia is influenced and promoted by the inhabitants. Most domatia are inhabited either by mites
Mites are small arachnids (eight-legged arthropods). Mites span two large orders of arachnids, the Acariformes and the Parasitiformes, which were historically grouped together in the subclass Acari, but genetic analysis does not show clear e ...
or ants
Ants are Eusociality, eusocial insects of the Family (biology), family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the Taxonomy (biology), order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from Vespoidea, vespoid wasp ancestors in the Creta ...
, in what can be a mutualist relationship, but other arthropods such as thrips
Thrips (order Thysanoptera) are minute (mostly long or less), slender insects with fringed wings and unique asymmetrical mouthparts. Different thrips species feed mostly on plants by puncturing and sucking up the contents, although a few are ...
may take parasitic advantage of the protection offered by this structure.
Domatia occupied by ants are called myrmecodomatia. An important class of myrmecodomatia comprise large, hollow spines of certain acacias such as ''Acacia sphaerocephala
''Vachellia sphaerocephala'', the bull's horn thorn or bee wattle, is a plant species in the family Fabaceae. The name comes from the shape of the thorns which do indeed resemble the horns of a bull. The tree has a strong, symbiotic relationship ...
'', in which ants of the genera ''Pseudomyrmex
''Pseudomyrmex'' is a genus of stinging, wasp-like ants in the subfamily Pseudomyrmecinae. They are large-eyed, slender ants, found mainly in tropical and subtropical regions of the New World.
Distribution and habitat
''Pseudomyrmex'' is predom ...
'' and '' Tetraponera'' make their nests. Plants that provide myrmecodomatia are called myrmecophyte
Myrmecophytes (; literally "ant-plant") are plants that live in a mutualistic association with a colony of ants. There are over 100 different genera of myrmecophytes. These plants possess structural adaptations that provide ants with food and ...
s. The variety of the plants that provide myrmecodomatia, and the ranges of forms of such domatia are considerable. Some plants, such as '' Myrmecodia'', grow large bulbous structures riddled with channels in which their ants may establish themselves, both for mutual protection and for the nutritive benefit of the ants' wastes.
Often domatia are formed on the lower surface of leaves, at the juncture of the midrib and the veins. They usually consist of small depressions partly enclosed by leaf tissue or hairs. Many members of the family Lauraceae
Lauraceae, or the laurels, is a plant family that includes the true laurel and its closest relatives. This family comprises about 2850 known species in about 45 genera worldwide (Christenhusz & Byng 2016 ). They are dicotyledons, and occur m ...
develop leaf domatia. Domatia are also found in some rainforest tree species in the families Alangiaceae
Alangiaceae was recognized as a small family of small dicotyledon trees, shrubs or lianas, closely related to the Cornaceae (dogwood family).
There is only one genus, '' Alangium'', with seventeen species.
The APG II states that Alangiaceae is ...
, Elaeocarpaceae
Elaeaocarpaceae is a family of flowering plants. The family contains approximately 615 species of trees and shrubs in 12 genera."Elaeocarpaceae" In: Klaus Kubitzki (ed.). ''The Families and Genera of Vascular Plants'' vol. VI. Springer-Verlag: Be ...
, , Icacinaceae
The Icacinaceae, also called the white pear family, are a family of flowering plants,"Icacinaceae" At: Angiosperm Phylogeny Website At: Missouri Botanical Garden Website (see ''External links'' below).
consisting of trees, shrubs, and lianas, pri ...
, Meliaceae
Meliaceae, the mahogany family, is a flowering plant family of mostly trees and shrubs (and a few herbaceous plants, mangroves) in the order Sapindales.
They are characterised by alternate, usually pinnate leaves without stipules, and by syncar ...
, Rubiaceae
The Rubiaceae are a family of flowering plants, commonly known as the coffee, madder, or bedstraw family. It consists of terrestrial trees, shrubs, lianas, or herbs that are recognizable by simple, opposite leaves with interpetiolar stipules a ...
, Sapindaceae
The Sapindaceae are a family of flowering plants in the order Sapindales known as the soapberry family. It contains 138 genera and 1858 accepted species. Examples include horse chestnut, maples, ackee and lychee.
The Sapindaceae occur in temp ...
and Simaroubaceae
The Simaroubaceae are a small, mostly tropical, family in the order Sapindales. In recent decades, it has been subject to much taxonomic debate, with several small families being split off. A molecular phylogeny of the family was published in 20 ...
.
See also
*Acarodomatia Acarodomatia (singular ''Acarodomatium'') (Latin: ''Acari'' - mites, ''domus'' - dwelling), are tussocks of hairs or nonglandular trichomes located in pits situated in major leaf vein axes of many plant species, occupied and caused by predatory and ...
External links
A video showing ants living inside a domatium
References