Fig wasp facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Fig wasps |
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| Blastophaga psenes female | |
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Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most pollinate the figs, but others simply feed on the plant.
The non-pollinators belong to several groups in the superfamily Chalcidoidea. So, the fig wasps are a polyphyletic group: they include several unrelated lineages whose similarities are based upon their shared association with figs.
The pollinators are all in the family Agaonidae. They make galls. The other types either make their own galls or use the galls of other fig wasps.
Images for kids
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Female (left, with long ovipositor) and male Blastophaga psenes
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Pleistodontes sp. female
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Ceratosolen species are pollinators of the Sycomorus, Sycocarpus and Neomorphe sections of Ficus.
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Non-pollinating parasitoid wasps Apocrypta ovipositing on Ficus sur in South Africa
See also
In Spanish: Avispa de los higos para niños
