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Pleistodontes facts for kids

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Pleistodontes
Pleistodontes sp-Female.jpg
Pleistodontes sp. female
Scientific classification e
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Agaonidae
Subfamily: Agaoninae
Genus: Pleistodontes
Saunders 1882
Type species
Pleistodontes imperialis
Saunders, 1882

Pleistodontes is a group of tiny wasps, often called fig wasps. They mostly live in Australia and New Guinea. One type, P. claviger, is found in Java. These special wasps have a very close relationship with fig trees. They need each other to survive!

Pleistodontes wasps help pollinate, or spread pollen, for certain types of fig trees. These fig trees belong to a group called Malvanthera, which is part of the Ficus subgenus Urostigma. This means the wasps help these specific fig trees make seeds.

Some scientists, like Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, looked closely at the Pleistodontes wasps in Australia. They thought that P. claviger might not actually belong in this group of wasps.

Meet the Pleistodontes Species

The Natural History Museum lists many different types of Pleistodontes wasps. Each one is a unique species!

  • Pleistodontes addicotti Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes achorus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes astrabocheilus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes athysanus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes blandus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes claviger (Mayr)
  • Pleistodontes cuneatus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes deuterus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes froggatti Mayr
  • Pleistodontes galbinus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes greenwoodi (Grandi)
  • Pleistodontes immaturus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes imperialis Saunders
  • Pleistodontes longicaudus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes macrocainus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes mandibularis Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes nigriventris (Girault)
  • Pleistodontes nitens (Girault)
  • Pleistodontes plebejus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes proximus Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes regalis Grandi
  • Pleistodontes rennellensis Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes rieki Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes rigisamos Wiebes
  • Pleistodontes schizodontus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook
  • Pleistodontes xanthocephalus Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook

See also

Kids robot.svg In Spanish: Pleistodontes para niños

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Pleistodontes Facts for Kids. Kiddle Encyclopedia.