

231 



septa ! 70). They seldom leave I lie ( 'r< rt>f>i<i |)l;mt. unless dis- 



turl )(<!. and even keep hen U of a ph ids in their abode. The base of each 

 petiole hears ( l''ig- 271 ) tender little e.i^ like bodie> (" Mailer's bod: 

 which the ants detach, store away and cat ; t he | re-ni< < oil hese bodies 

 that the tree is uninhahited hy the>e ant-. whi< h. by the 

 way. helon.i^ to the jrmi> . 1 :tcca. 



It is too nuirh to assert that the ants protect, the Cccropin plant in 

 return for tin- food and shelter which they ohtain. All ant- are hostile 



FIG. 269. Portion of young stem, of Cecropia aden- 



FIG. 270. Cecropia adenopus. 



opus showing internodal pits, a and b. Natural size. Portion of a stem, split so as to 

 Figures 269-271 are from Schimper's Pflanzengeo- show internodal chambers and the 

 graphic. intervening septa perforated by 



ants. 



to all other species of ants, with few exceptions, and even to other col- 

 onies of their own species; so that their assaults upon leaf-cutting ants 

 are hy no means special and adaptive in their nature, and any protec- 

 tion that a plant derives therefrom is merely incidental. Furthermore, 

 hollow stems, glandular petioles and pitted stems are of common 

 occurrence when they bear no relation to the needs of ants. These 

 interrelations of ants and plants are too often misinterpreted in 

 popular and uncritical accounts of the subject. 



The interesting habits of the leaf-cutting ants in relation to the 



