this post was submitted on 18 Dec 2023
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FWIK it's all figs.
For a relatively simple explanation. There is a male fig, which only produces pollen. This is what the female fig wasp wants to find to lay her eggs in. Now if the wasp were to enter a female fig by mistake, the pollen covering it since hatching would pollinate the fig, and the enzyme which the fig produces would kill and break down the wasp before it could lay any eggs. After which the broken down wasp would get completely absorbed to provide nutrients as the fig grows and matures.
It's similar to how a plant's roots absorb compost, just without the help of bacteria to break things down
Thank you for the explanation, I wasn't aware of the cycle. It hasn't put me off figs. I think not knowing easily allows one to make a worse assumption of the actual life cycle.