Do figs really have wasps in them? Here's what experts say
Numerous videos online and multiple articles on the internet have people convinced that figs have wasps in them, contributing to many even avoiding this natural delicacy. However, is this actually true and does every fig have a wasp inside?
Well, the answer is sort of in between. While wasps do play a vital role in the life cycle of many types of fig trees, most figs that we buy at the supermarket are bug-free.
Fig wasps are a group of hundreds of species of small insects that spend much of their life inside figs. About the size of a fruit fly, they have evolved alongside figs for millions of years, leading to a special relationship called mutualism—a link between two species that benefits both of them.
In this case, the fruit gets pollinated and the wasp is able to reproduce, leading to mutualism . However, things are not that simple.
The fig fruit has a hollow structure called a syconium filled with tiny flowers. When a female fig wasp crawls inside from a female fig tree, she spreads pollen which the plant uses to produce seeds and ripen. Since the hall is pretty small, the wasp may lose her wings and antenna and may even die inside. Thus, it is possible for figs to have dead wasps in them.
However, not all figs require pollination to ripen. Humans eat the fig species known as Ficus Carica , which can produce ripe fruit without pollination and thus without fig wasps.
"Most figs we eat in the US have no wasps inside them," Carlos Machado, a biology professor at the University of Maryland, told LiveScience in an email. Mission figs and Brown Türkiye figs are two commonly sold types that don't require wasp pollination to ripen and produce seeds.
However, there are some figs eaten by humans that do rely on wasps for pollination. These include Smyrna figs , Calimyrna figs and wild figs around the Mediterranean.
Additionally, just because a wasp entered a fig doesn't mean it can't escape it. The synconia of Ficus carica have a large enough opening that the fig wasp is sometimes able to leave the structure after entering. If the wasp does die inside, it gets squished and decomposed from the process of fig maturing. Any crunchy texture is more from the plant’s seeds and not wasp remains.
Well, the answer is sort of in between. While wasps do play a vital role in the life cycle of many types of fig trees, most figs that we buy at the supermarket are bug-free.
Fig wasps are a group of hundreds of species of small insects that spend much of their life inside figs. About the size of a fruit fly, they have evolved alongside figs for millions of years, leading to a special relationship called mutualism—a link between two species that benefits both of them.
In this case, the fruit gets pollinated and the wasp is able to reproduce, leading to mutualism . However, things are not that simple.
The fig fruit has a hollow structure called a syconium filled with tiny flowers. When a female fig wasp crawls inside from a female fig tree, she spreads pollen which the plant uses to produce seeds and ripen. Since the hall is pretty small, the wasp may lose her wings and antenna and may even die inside. Thus, it is possible for figs to have dead wasps in them.
However, not all figs require pollination to ripen. Humans eat the fig species known as Ficus Carica , which can produce ripe fruit without pollination and thus without fig wasps.
"Most figs we eat in the US have no wasps inside them," Carlos Machado, a biology professor at the University of Maryland, told LiveScience in an email. Mission figs and Brown Türkiye figs are two commonly sold types that don't require wasp pollination to ripen and produce seeds.
However, there are some figs eaten by humans that do rely on wasps for pollination. These include Smyrna figs , Calimyrna figs and wild figs around the Mediterranean.
Additionally, just because a wasp entered a fig doesn't mean it can't escape it. The synconia of Ficus carica have a large enough opening that the fig wasp is sometimes able to leave the structure after entering. If the wasp does die inside, it gets squished and decomposed from the process of fig maturing. Any crunchy texture is more from the plant’s seeds and not wasp remains.
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