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Are figs really full of baby wasps?

by Robert Lamb

Is there a female fig wasp stuck in my teeth?

Most commercially grown figs are pollinated by wasps. And yes, edible figs wind

up with at least one dead female wasp inside. But it's still not quite the

childhood myth of fruits squirming with insect meat. It's all part of the

mutually beneficial relationship that exists between fig wasp and fig plant.

A few points worth remembering about the wasp content:

1. When a female wasp dies inside an edible fig, an enzyme in the fig

called ficin breaks down her carcass into protein. The fig basically digests

the dead insect, making it a part of the resulting ripened fruit. The crunchy

bits in figs are seeds, not anatomical parts of a wasp.

2. Fig farmers want to keep the number of wasps entering edible figs to an

acceptable minimum. While the insect's cooperation is mandatory for the fig to

ripen, too many wasps entering will result in over-pollination. Then this fig

might be filled with so many seeds that the fruit-like syconium bursts open.

While this is good for the plant, it hurts the finished harvest for farmers. To

prevent this, farmers separate male and female trees over great distances.

Farmers also supply a controlled number of new wasps, often delivered in paper

sacks, to dictate exactly how many females have access to a given plant. This

means fewer wasps inside when the time comes to harvest.

3. It's also important not to get too bent out of shape over the possibility of

accidently eating the occasional insect. Even with the use of modern pest

control, insects partially contaminate most agricultural products upon harvest

and on the way to market. From canned corn to curry paste, from premium coffee

to peanut butter, most foods contain insects. For example, when tomato ketchup

qualifies for the highest USDA grade standard possible, it's required to

contain no more than 30 fruit fly eggs per every 100 grams (3.5 ounces)

[source: North Carolina State University Department of Entomology].

For some people, no amount of explaining is likely to suffice. Some vegetarians

and vegans refuse to eat figs and fig products based on the possibility of

insect content. The dead wasps in question, however, were just playing their

vital ecological role. There are 900 species of fig wasp, and each is

responsible for pollinating one or two species of fig plant. Without these tiny

insects, there would be no figs -- and vice versa.

For more information on figs, wasps and other fascinating plant and insect

relationships, check out the links on the next page.

Figs and Fig Wasps

To really understand the wasp-eating dilemma associated with figs, you have to

first look at the closely connected life cycles of both the plant and the

insect. The current mutual relationship between the two didn't happen

overnight. It's the result of millions of years of evolution.

The fig plant and the fig wasp both have the same goal: reproduction. For this

to happen, a fig plant needs to share its genetic material (in the form of

pollen) with another of its kind, and the fig wasp needs a place where its

larva can grow and feed. Think of the fig wasp as a tenant, and the fig plant

as a landlord who takes payment in the form of pollen.

Insect Image Gallery

What we call a fig (a structure called the syconium) is more inverted flower

than fruit, with all its reproductive parts located inside. After a female fig

wasp flies over from the fig plant she emerged from, she must travel to the

center of the syconium to lay her eggs. To get there, she climbs down through a

narrow passage called the ostiole. The passage is so cramped that the tiny fig

wasp loses her wings and antenna during her claustrophobic trek. Once inside,

there's no getting back out and flying to another plant -- but is she in the

right place?

Fig plants boast two kinds of figs: male caprifigs and female edible figs.

If a female wasp enters a caprifig, she'll find male flower parts that are

perfectly shaped to hold the eggs she'll eventually lay. The eggs will grow

into larvae, which will develop into male and female wasps. After hatching, the

blind, wingless male wasps will spend the remainder of their lives digging

tunnels through the fig. The female wasps then emerge through these tunnels and

fly off to find a new fig -- carrying precious pollen with them.

If a female fig wasp enters an edible fig, she eventually dies from exhaustion

or starvation. The female flower parts include a long stylus that hinders her

attempts to lay her eggs. She may die, but she succeeds in delivering the

much-needed pollen first. So a fig farmer winds up with caprifigs full of wasp

eggs and edible figs full of seeds.

Though edible figs may not be filled with baby wasps, doesn't this mean that

these figs contain a lot of female wasps who died of loneliness? Read on to

find out what (or whom) you're munching on when you grab a fig treat.