FIG WASPS - THEIR LIFECYCLE AND FACTS
The scientific name of fig wasps is Agaonidae and it belongs to the kingdom of Animalia. Fig wasps are basically pollen bearing insects and this insect are found in those areas where wind can gust up to 30 kms per hour. Fig wasps are capable to travel downwind about 100 miles with in 48 hours of lifespan. Among fig wasps the female looks like a normal insect and the male are mostly wingless. The main task of male insect is to mate with female with in the fig syconium and the female escape through the hole from the interior portion of the fig.
Most type of fig contains three types of flowers such as male, short female and long female. The female fig wasp reaches the ovaries of short female flowers with ovipositors and then the short flowers grow wasps where as the long flowers become seeds. In such type of figs the crunchy portion contains both seeds and wasps. There are different commercial varieties of fig that are self fertile and doesn’t require pollination and it is been noticed that these varieties are not visited by fig wasps.
The Life cycle of fig wasps
There are different varieties of fig and fig wasps. The life cycle of fig wasp is related with the fig tree it inhabits. That particular fig tree can be divided into two groups such as pollinating and non- pollinating. The pollinating variety forms a type of symbiosis with the tree and the non-pollinating variety forms parasitic. Both life cycles are some what similar.
The individual species have different life. In the beginning of the life cycle a mature female pollinator wasp enters into the fruit through ostiole, which is a small natural opening and it deposit eggs in the cavity which is covered by female flower. When the insect tries to come out through the ostiole it loses wings and some of her antennae. After depositing her eggs the female deposit pollen and the female flowers are pollinated inside the surface of the fig and then it will mature.
After the pollination the female wasp will die and the fig consumes her corpse. There are several species in non-pollinating wasp deposit egg after pollination and this type of wasps act a parasite to the fig. when the fig develops the eggs of the wasp hatch and forms into larvae.
After the pupal stage the mature male will mate with the female and the male wasp will dig out a fig and creates a tunnel for the female to escape through it. Once the male wasp is out of the fig it dies quickly and the female finds their way to pick up pollen. After this process they fly to other trees of same species and they lay eggs and again the lifecycle is been repeated.
People use fig for making different type of food items and some species ripe with out the help of wasps. Ripe fig consists of tiny edible and crunchy seeds.
