Acacia collinsii

Taxobox
name = "Acacia collinsii"

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image_width = 240px
image_caption = "A. collinsii" In Guanacaste, Costa Rica.
regnum = Plantae
divisio = Magnoliophyta
classis = Magnoliopsida
ordo = Fabales
familia = Fabaceae
subfamilia = Mimosoideae
genus = "Acacia"
species = "A. collinsii"
binomial = "Acacia collinsii"
binomial_authority = Saff.

"Acacia collinsii" is a species of flowering plant. It grows in secondary succession in seasonally dry ecosystems in southern Central America, where it exhibits a symbiotic relationship with several species of ant ("Pseudomyrmex spinicola", "Pseudomyrmex ferruginea"). The ants chew holes in the tips of the hollow stipular thorns so that they can enter, and create their colony inside. A single ant colony may span several "A. collinsii" trees.

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 food bodies on its leaves, which are consumed by the ants.