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Now, I know all about their obligate mutualism with the fig flower but I'm wondering about a few other things.
-Do these wasps sting?
-Do they eat during their adult life? Or do they live on the reserves they accumulated as papae?
-What size are they? (must be pretty tiny to enter a fig's syconium)

I know the question is a bit complex but any information would be great.

2007-06-19 19:59:20 · 1 answers · asked by JarJar Odd 2 in Science & Mathematics Zoology

1 answers

There are many different species of fig wasps. See:http://www.figweb.org/Fig_wasps/Who_are_figwasps/index.htm or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_wasp

Brittanica says there are about 900 species, each of which is specific to a species of fig.

Most of the wasps are relatively small - about 2 mm. See:
http://waynesword.palomar.edu/pljune99.htm

Most males die within the original fig (the one in which they hatched), after they fertilize the females. If they do emerge from the fig, they die soon afterwards. The females, once they emerge, immediately fly to another fig, and enter that one. So, they have very little time or opportunity to eat. See:
http://www.botgard.ucla.edu/html/botanytextbooks/economicbotany/Ficus/index.html

I can't find any specific inforemation about stingers. The site with the best pictures is the first, figweb one. They have pictures and drawings, but I believe the long extensions from the wasps' abdomens are the ovipositors.

2007-06-19 20:47:25 · answer #1 · answered by kt 7 · 0 0

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