How cells and tissues of Daphnopsis fasciculata (Thymelaeaceae) react to the leaf-mining habit of Phyllocnistis hemera (Lepidoptera: Gracillariidae).

Plant cell and tissue responses to the attack of mining herbivores may be diagnosed by anatomical and histochemical analyses, herein investigated regarding the mining activity of Phyllocnistis hemera larvae in the leaf lamina of Daphnopsis fasciculata. The larva enters the leaf lamina through the adaxial epidermis, and feeds on palisade parenchyma cells. A healing tissue is produced after the larva passes, and its cells are reactive to histochemical tests for lignins and pectins.