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Genus: Roridula
Life
> eukaryotes >
Archaeoplastida >
Chloroplastida
>
Charophyta > Streptophytina > Plantae (land plants)
> Tracheophyta (vascular plants) > Euphyllophyta > Lignophyta (woody plants)
> Spermatophyta (seed plants) > Angiospermae (flowering
plants) > Eudicotyledons > Core Eudicots > Asterids > Order: Ericales
> Family: Roridulaceae
Two species, endemic to the Western Cape. Have a mutualistic
association with mirid bugs in the genus Pameridea whereby the bugs feed
on insects caught on the mucilage-tipped trichomes of the plant and the plant
absorbs nutrients from the faeces produced by the bug. Hairs on the tarsi of the
bugs enable them to move on the plant without being caught by the sticky
mucilage.
Species native to southern Africa
List from
Plants
of Southern Africa - an Online Checklist (SANBI).
Roridula dentata
Both species of bugs (Pameridea marlothi and Pameridea roridulae)
occur on this species. |
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Roridula gorgonias
Only Pameridea roridulae is found on this species. |
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Links
References
- Anderson, B. 2005. Adaptations to foliar absorption of faeces: A pathway
to plant carnivory. Ann. Bot. 95: 757-761.
- Ellis, E. G., & Midgley, J. J. 1996. A new plant-animal mutualism
involving a plant with sticky leaves and a resident hemipteran insect.
Oecologia 106: 478-481.
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