A fig is not a true fruit in the traditional sense, but rather a structure called a syconium, which is an inverted flower cluster. This unique, fleshy receptacle is lined on the inside with hundreds of tiny flowers. The fig’s structure means its flowers cannot be pollinated by wind or typical insects, setting the stage for a unique biological partnership. To understand the relationship between figs and wasps, it is necessary to clarify the different types of figs that exist in cultivation and in the wild.
The Direct Answer: Not All Figs Require Wasps
The truth is that the majority of figs available in grocery stores do not require a wasp for their development. Commercially grown figs, such as the widely popular Black Mission, Brown Turkey, and Celeste varieties, are often parthenocarpic. This scientific term means the fruit can develop and mature without the need for fertilization or pollination.
These figs have been selectively bred over centuries to produce fruit simply in response to environmental conditions, effectively bypassing the need for the fig wasp. For the consumer, this means the fig they purchase is essentially a self-developed, wasp-free product. These varieties rely solely on the plant’s genetics, not an external pollinator, to produce the edible syconium.
Wild figs and Smyrna figs require obligate pollination. Smyrna-type figs must be pollinated by the fig wasp to mature and produce viable seeds; without the wasp, the undeveloped figs will drop from the tree before ripening.
The male fig, or caprifig, is also dependent on the wasp, but it serves a different function as the wasp’s nursery. Caprifigs are not typically consumed by humans but are grown in orchards solely to harbor the wasps needed to pollinate the female Smyrna figs.
The Fig Wasp Life Cycle
The intricate relationship between the fig tree and the fig wasp, specifically members of the Agaonidae family, is a mutualistic exchange. This exchange is initiated when a female wasp searches for a suitable syconium to lay her eggs. She locates a receptive fig by following a species-specific chemical scent released by the fig itself.
The female wasp must squeeze through the ostiole, the tiny, narrow opening at the base of the fig. This passage is so tight that the wasp typically loses her wings and antennae, trapping her inside. Once inside, she pollinates some female flowers with pollen carried from her birth fig, while simultaneously depositing her eggs into the ovaries of other flowers using her specialized ovipositor.
The flowers where she lays her eggs develop into galls, which provide shelter and food for the developing wasp larvae. After she completes her egg-laying, the female wasp, now wingless and exhausted, will die inside the fig. Meanwhile, the wasp larvae grow within their protective galls until they mature.
The wingless male wasps hatch first and immediately seek out the galls containing the female pupae. They mate with the females while the latter are still inside their galls, sometimes even before they fully emerge.
After mating, the males chew a tunnel through the wall of the fig, creating an exit path for the newly fertilized females. Having completed their entire life cycle within the fig, the males die shortly after, never leaving the syconium. The newly emerged, fertilized females then collect pollen from the male flowers inside the fig before escaping through the tunnel to repeat the cycle on another receptive fig.
What Happens to the Wasp After Pollination?
The fate of the deceased female wasp inside the fig is a question of common concern. The fig tree has a biological mechanism to manage this. After the pollination and egg-laying process is complete, the fig begins a ripening process. During this time, the fig produces a powerful enzyme known as ficin.
Ficin is a cysteine endoproteolytic protease, a type of enzyme that specializes in breaking down proteins. This enzyme actively digests the body of the dead female wasp. The wasp’s body is effectively dissolved and incorporated into the fruit tissue as the fig matures.
By the time the fig is ripe, the wasp’s carcass has been chemically broken down. The crunchy bits often noticed when eating a fig are not wasp remains, but rather the hard outer coatings of the fig’s seeds, which are the products of successful pollination. The fig efficiently reabsorbs the nutrients from the digested wasp, ensuring that the fruit is perfectly safe and clean to eat.