Understory shrub that can reach heights of 5m.
This information is based an ongoing project dedicated to the inventory and dissemination of information on lepidopteran larvae, their host plants, and their parasitoids in a Costa Rican tropical wet forest and an Ecuadorian montane cloud forest.
Ecuador:
N=181 herbivore associations as of 2012.
Crambidae: Unknown spp.; N=3.
Geometridae: Eois jifia (Dognin): N=3, Eois nov. spp.; N=152, Unknown spp.; N=7.
Larvae from several other lepidopteran families (N=16) have been collected from P. phytolaccifolium, however, all died prior to pupation, suggesting that they do not actually feed on P. phytolaccifolium.
Larval lepidopteran herbivores reared in Napo Province, Ecuador (Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creative Studies).
Costa Rica:
N=8 herbivore associations as of 2012.
Geometridae: Eois obada (Druce); N=4.
Nymphalidae: Consul fabius cecrops (Doubleday); N=1.
Larval lepidopteran herbivores reared in Heredia Province, Costa Rica (La Selva Biological Station).
For Piper phylogeny see attached pdf (Jaramillo et al., 2008).
For original publication details of Piper phytolaccifolium see: Reliq. Haenk. 1: 151 1828.
Piper phytolaccifolium is found in Costa Rica, Venezuela, Columbia and Ecuador.This information was accessed through Discover Life.
50m-2200m (Based on CAPEA rearings in Ecuador and Costa Rica).
Ecuador:
Larval lepidopteran herbivores have been found on Piper phytolaccifolium from several locations in Napo Province, Ecuador (Arenillas, Isla de Las Palmas, Yanayacu Biological Station and Center for Creatvie Studies, Miraflores).
Costa Rica:
Larval lepidopteran herbivores have been collected from Piper phytolaccifolium in Heredia Province, Costa Rica (La Selva Biological Station).
A number of synonyms for the accepted name, Piper phytolaccifolium Opiz are acknowledged by The Plant List.