Ants collect the diaspores for the edible elaiosome, carry them to their nests and consume the elaiosomes. Sometimes, the elaiosome content is sucked from the diaspores, or the elaiosome is loosened on the way to the nest.

Experiments with removal of C. cava seeds with elaiosomes ablated, and with paper balls, infiltrated with juices of seed bodies and elaiosomes, showed the crucial role of elaiosome content in the ant attraction.

Elaiosomes also vary in size, and ants in many instances preferentially disperse diaspores with the greatest elaiosome/diaspore mass ratio, although plants produce seeds of different sizes, allowing for a variety of ants to effect their dispersal

Elaiosome

Meaning

Noun