AXIMALS AS FOOD, FOKS, OA' 



349 



secure themselves from the attacks both of browsing ani- 



mals and leaf-cutting insects 



by encouraging the presence 



of colonies of warlike ants 



upon them and making pro- 



vision for their defenders' 



wants. A very large number 



of species * protect themselves 



in this way. For the ants 



the plants provide (a) nectar, 



FIG. 392. 



FIG. 393. 



FIG. 392. Bit of a section through the cushion (c, fig. 393) at base of leaf of 

 showing the velvety hairs with which it is covered, and among them the egg-like 

 bodies, rich in proteids and fats, which the ants collect and carry into their nests in the 

 interior of the stem. Magnified about i<> diam. After Scltimper. 



FIG. 393. Apex of the hollow stem of a young Cecropia. >/,the thin spot above a 

 leaf, which at b has been gnawed through' by the ants to make their nest in the cavity 

 of the stem ; c, the cushion at base of leaf stalk where food bodies grow. See fig. 392. 

 Two-thirds natural size. After Schimper. 



similar to that secreted in the flower, i.e., a watery solution 

 of various sugars, but secreted by nectaries outside the 

 flower; (b} fodder, in the form of hairs (fig. 392), often of 

 peculiar form, richly supplied with nutritive substances, 



More than three thousand are listed by Delpino. 



