Domatia

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Domatia (singular: Domatium) are chambers produced by plants that house insects.[1] Domatia differ from galls in that they are intentionally produced by the plant rather than being induced by their inhabitants. Most domatia are either mite domatia or ant domatia.

Domatia may be also own structures of a plant on the lower surface of its leaf, usually consisting of small depressions, partly enclosed by leaf tissue or hairs, located in the axils of the veins. For example, many members of the Lauraceae family have domatia on they leaves.


[edit] References

  1. ^ O'Dowd, Dennis J.; Mary F. Willson (June 1991). "Associations Between Mites and Leaf Domatia". Trends in Ecology & Evolution 6 (6): 179–182. doi:10.1016/0169-5347(91)90209-G. 
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