Pleistodontes facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Pleistodontes |
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| Pleistodontes sp. female | |
Scientific classification  |
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| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Agaonidae |
| Subfamily: | Agaoninae |
| Genus: | Pleistodontes Saunders 1882 |
| Type species | |
| Pleistodontes imperialis Saunders, 1882
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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
In Spanish: Pleistodontes para niños
