Pearl body
![Food bodies of Cissus verticillata. (A–C) Ontogenesis of the food bodies. In (A), the initial stage of differentiation of these structures can be seen, and the first divisions of the subjacent tissues can be observed (arrow). (D) Detail of a mature food body, note the large volumes of the internal cells and the presence of plates of pectic compounds in the protoplast of the epidermal cells (arrows). (E) Apical portion of a branch with an ant patrolling a twig (arrow). (F) Ant (Crematogaster sp.) carrying a food body](/Images/godic/202502/01/Mcn237013702.jpg")
![Scanning electron microscopy images of Cissus verticillata food bodies. (A) Locality where food bodies are formed on the stem; note the depression in which the FBs are formed in the midst of the papilose epidermal cells. (B) Food bodies in the nodal region of the stem. (C) Food body in the nodal region, partially protected by the stipule. Inset: detail of the epidermal cells of a food body; note the absence of any pores or ruptured areas of the cuticle. (D) Food body on a leaf, detail of the distal portion, demonstrating a stoma (arrow)](/Images/godic/202502/01/Mcn237023702.jpg")
Pearl bodies are small (0.5 - 3.0 mm), lustrous, pearl-like food bodies produced from the epidermis of leaves, petioles and shoots of certain plants. They are rich in lipids, proteins and carbohydrates, and are sought after by various arthropods and ants, that carry out vigorous protection of the plant against herbivores, thus functioning as a biotic defence. They are globose or club-shaped on short peduncles, easily detached from the plant, and are food sources in the same sense as Beltian bodies, Müllerian bodies, Beccarian bodies, Coccid secretions and nectaries. They occur in at least 19 plant families (1982) with tropical and subtropical distribution.