The Caladium steudneriifoli, a plant that pretends to be sick all day every day.

Everyone has pretended at least once in their life to be ill, to avoid school, work or going out on a rainy day. Well, today I will talk to you about the Caladium steudneriifolium, a plant that pretends to be ill every day. This plant is found in the rainforest of Colombia, Peru and Ecuador, where it regularly gets consumed and attacked by mining moth caterpillars (Soltau, Dötterl, Liede-Schumann, 2009). To avoid being eaten, the plant will produce irregular white patches on top of its leaves, called variegation, that are similar to the one left after being consumed by a caterpillar (Figure 1) (Soltau, Dötterl, Liede-Schumann, 2009). This mimicry will protect the plant, as the female moth will believe that another larvae has already consumed a part of the leaf. Therefore, the insect will assume that it does not contain enough resources for its offspring anymore, and will avoid laying its eggs on the ill looking leaves (Soltau, Dötterl & Liede-Schumann, 2009).

A research by Soltau, Dötterl & Liede-Schumann (2009) has found that leaves showing variegation patterns are 4 to 12 times less damaged than the other plain green leaves.

 So, yes…

IT WORKS!

Figure 1. Left photo: A leaf of a Caladium steudneriifolium, damaged by a
mining moth caterpillar
Right photo: A leaf of a Caladium steudneriifolium mimicking the damage
by a mining moth caterpillar.
Photo by: M. Walker.

Reference list:

Soltau, U. Dötterl, S. & Liede-Schumann, S. (2009). Leaf variegation in Caladium steudneriifolium (Araceae): a case of mimicry? Evolutionary Ecology, 23, 503-512.

Walker, M. (n.d.).Left photo: A leaf damaged by a mining moth caterpillar, Right photo: A leaf mimicking the damage by a mining moth caterpillar [Image]. Retrieved from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/earth/hi/earth_news/newsid_8108000/8108940.stm