{"id":1928,"date":"2026-07-03T01:05:30","date_gmt":"2026-07-03T06:05:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/?p=1928"},"modified":"2026-07-06T11:33:47","modified_gmt":"2026-07-06T16:33:47","slug":"extrafloral-nectaries","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/extrafloral-nectaries\/","title":{"rendered":"Extrafloral Nectaries"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Ant on Pachycereus, indefenseofplants.com)<\/p>\n

Introduction<\/h2>\n

Extrafloral nectaries are tiny nectar-secreting glands located outside the flower. On leaves, petioles, stipules, or stems, they appear as small dots or raised pads and may feel slightly sticky. Unlike floral nectar, their sugar-rich droplets are not for pollination.<\/p>\n

The Details<\/h3>\n

In many plants, these glands feed ants and other quick patrols, and in return, the visitors chase off caterpillars and leaf-chewers, reducing damage to young pads and leaves. In dry seasons, activity often concentrates on new growth, where protection matters most.<\/p>\n

In gardens, if you see ants lined up along leaf margins or bud scales, you may be watching extrafloral nectaries at work. As a rule, avoid spraying; with a strong stream of water, rinse away sooty mold or aphids if they appear, and let the mutualism do the rest.<\/p>\n

Additional Reading:\u00a0Extrafloral Nectaries in Cylindropuntia<\/a><\/p>\n

Additional Reading: Diversity, Ecology and Evolution of Extrafloral Nectaries<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Nectary, <\/a>
Nectary, Alexanderwild.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Nectaries <\/a>
Nectaries and ants, Arizona.edu <\/div> <\/div>
\"Nectaries <\/a>
Nectaries with ants, CactiGuide.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Nectaries <\/a>
Nectaries with ants, CactiGuide.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Nectaries <\/a>
Nectaries with ants, CactiGuide.com <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

(Ant on Pachycereus, indefenseofplants.com) Introduction Extrafloral nectaries are tiny nectar-secreting glands located outside the flower. On leaves, petioles, stipules, or stems, they appear as small dots or raised pads and may feel slightly sticky. Unlike floral nectar, their sugar-rich droplets are not for pollination. The Details In many plants, these glands feed ants and other quick patrols, and in return, the visitors chase off caterpillars and leaf-chewers, reducing damage to young pads and leaves. In dry seasons, activity often concentrates on new growth, where protection matters most. In gardens, if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":6719,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[7,3],"tags":[26],"class_list":["post-1928","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-animals","category-cacti","tag-biology"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/And-on-Pachycereus-indefenseofplants.com_.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1928"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7212,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1928\/revisions\/7212"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1928"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1928"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/opuntiads.com\/oblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1928"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}