Extra floral nectaries on Catasetum?

[Connie Star]

Originally Posted by Louis_W

It seems like a short leap from natural honeydew excretion to ant partnership. I bet a lot of orchids have an early-evolution relationahip with ants! Not to mention the parasitic insects that go after them like scale and mealybugs

Myrmecophila is a genus which has hollowed pseudobulbs specifically for ants.

Judging from your photo, are you also a bird watcher?

Is the Pope Catholic? I am a long-time serious birder although I still consider myself a very experieinced beginner. Also a bird photographer, as is my amateur entomologist, dendrologist husband (he's not on OB)

I know about myrmecophila and would like to have one. Sometimes the ant genus has to be specific to the plant though. The ants on the acacia are a genus called Azteca

If your interested in the subject, my husband and I have a presentation on ants, plants, and birds. I could probably figure out a way to share it with you on Google Drive. I'll post some photos from it.
White Tipped Sicklebill hummingbird seen once and unfortunately could not get a picture of it on a Heliconia.
Euglossine bees on a Cynoches orchid, from the seasonally dry Guanacaste province of Costa Rica
Pair of Fiery Billed Toucans and a pair of Mot-Mots, just for fun. We should have a forum for interactions between orchids and pollinators or other animals that interact with them