These are leaf-footed bugs (Coreidae) on a passionflower (Passiflora) in the Panamanian jungle in Bocas del Toro. This vine was winding around an outdoor staircase where I was staying for a while, and I saw these bugs on there all the time.

A lot of passionflowers, this species included, have extrafloral (outside-the-flower) nectaries—little spots on the stems that secrete nectar—to attract ants, which eat the nectar and then defend their delicious food source against other insects. But this passionflower was attracting all these bugs and no ants. The bugs were going after the extrafloral nectaries, and the floral nectaries too, as this photo shows. Could they be pollinators? No, the owner of this plant had to hand-pollinate it with his other vines because pollinators weren’t coming. So what was the deal with this plant? It was attracting enemies and not making any friends! Its owner told me that it’s not native to Panama, so I suspect that it’s just not matched up correctly with the local pollinators and defensive ants, for whatever reason.

Photo credit: me.

(submission from wandering-nature)