Fig Wasp

The beauty of the fig and wasp relationship is that figs produce a special enzyme called ficain or ficin which breaks down the female wasps exoskeleton after it pollinates the female fig. When she enters through the small opening her wings and antennae are torn off.

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A female wasp enters the male fig to lay its eggs through a small passage.

Fig wasp. So once the female is in theres no way out. The crunchy little things that you notice when eating a fig are the seeds each corresponding to one flower. The passage is so small the females wings and antennae break off.

The female wasp burrows inside the fig through a narrow opening called an ostiole. If the wasp climbs into a female fig the kind we eat she pollinates it but cannot lay her eggs and just dies alone. MUTUALISM - The intricate story of the exclusive relationship between the fig tree and the fig wasp which has existed for millions of years.

Fig wasp family Agaonidae also called fig insect any of about 900 species of tiny wasps responsible for pollinating the worlds 900 species of figs see Ficus. The queen of the fig wasp is almost the perfect size for the jobexcept despite her tiny body she often times will lose her wings and antennae as she enters through a tight opening in the fig. That means that for pollen from one fig plant to reach another plant fig wasps must do all the leg work.

All fig trees are pollinated by very small wasps of the family Agaonidae. If she arrives in a male fig she is able to lay her eggs in an ideal environment and then dies. Shes shorter than an eyelash but she will fly as far as 6 miles to find a tree with flowering figs.

A wasp finds a flowering fig by using her sense of smell. The fertilization process goes like this. Here begins the story of the relationship between figs and fig wasps.

Which ones need itWhat role perform the symbiotic wasps Blastophaga psenesWhat is a caprifig tree and how does. Each species of wasp pollinates only one species of fig and each fig species has its own wasp species to pollinate it. Fig wasps are found throughout Australia.

Fig wasps live in urban areas forests and woodlands and anywhere native fig trees are found. Think of the fig wasp as a tenant and the fig plant as a landlord who takes payment in the form of pollen. A fig is actually the stem of an inflorescence very enlarged and fleshy that surrounds the tiny flowers inside.

If the fig is a male she lays her eggs inside. Male fig wasps are wingless a golden-brown colour and have an under-turned tail. Then the female wasp lays its eggs inside the male fig and male and female wasp babies are born.

If the wasp climbs into a female fig she pollinates it but cannot lay her eggs and just dies alone. What we call a fig a structure called the syconium is more inverted flower than fruit with all its reproductive parts located inside. The female wasps wings and antennae break off when entering the small passage in.

If the fig is a male she lays her eggs inside. In return the plant provides fig wasps with their only sources of food and shelter. What we know as fig fruits are actually inverted flowers.

These hatch into larvae that burrow out turn into wasps and fly off carrying fig pollen with them. Females have wings and a long head. Most figs that we eat are not pollinated.

The female fig wasp enters the male fig we dont eat the male figs by the way to lay its eggs. The fertilization process goes like this. The passage is so small the females wings.

Luckily for us the female fig produces an enzyme that digests this wasp. Those little insects are fig wasps and they play an essential role in the figs life cycle as the plants only pollinator. During their lifespans figs undergo what Hossaert-McKey and Bronstein 2001 describe in The American Journal of Botany as highly specialized pollination mutualism with agaonid wasps While many figs we now plant are self-pollinating some still rely on fig wasps for pollination.

These hatch into larvae that burrow out turn into wasps and fly off carrying fig pollen with them. Such a unique flower requires a unique pollinator. A young fig wasp female leaves the fig she was born in and searches for a fig in which to lay her eggs.

A female wasp enters the male fig to lay its eggs through a small passage. The male fig is shaped in a way to accommodate the laying of wasp eggs.

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