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Acacia cornigera
Photo take in my backyard this is a solitary tree more like a bush is easy to identify do to the spines that cover the all tree, common in this area inside the spines lives a small ants species very aggressive, gives protection to the tree from other insects. The spines are use to produce a drug for arthritis treatment.
It grows in secondary succession in seasonally dry ecosystems in southern Central America. Wikipedia.
The ants protect the trees from attack by other insects. Some ant species even cut down vegetation on the ground surrounding their trees and trim the encroaching branches of other plants, which allows the A. collinsii trees to thrive. In exchange, A. collinsii not only provides the ants with hollow thorns in which to live, but also produces lipid- and protein-rich food bodies, known as Beltian bodies, on the tips of new leaflets, which are consumed by the ants and are critical for larval growth. Acacia collinsii also provides the ants with sugar-rich nectar from extrafloral nectaries located at the leaf petiole Wikipedia
Spotted on Feb 19, 2012
Submitted on Feb 19, 2012
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