myrmecophytism

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noun

The situation where a plant lives in association with a colony of ants.

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Meanings

nounmyrmecophytism (uncountable)
  1. uncountablebiologyThe situation where a plant lives in association with a colony of ants.

    In many cases myrmecophytism has evolved multiple times in a single genus (e.g., Macaranga) and in other cases it has evolved in just one clade (i.e., Vachellia).

    2015 December 3, “Fidelity and Promiscuity in an Ant-Plant Mutualism: A Case Study of Triplaris and Pseudomyrmex”, in PLOS ONE, →DOI

Origin

From myrmecophyte + -ism.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

myrmecophytism. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrmecophytism

MLA

“myrmecophytism.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrmecophytism. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “myrmecophytism,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/myrmecophytism.

Source: myrmecophytism on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.