Amy Draiss
Fig wasps in figs might sound like some oddball nature yarn, but they’re real. These little guys aren’t just hanging around for fun. They’ve got this wild, ancient deal with fig trees that ensures you get sweet, plump fruits. So, do figs really have wasps in them? And should you be worried you’re munching on bugs with every bite?
Here’s the scoop on how figs and wasps work together. Fig wasps are important pollinators that ensure wild fig trees produce bountiful harvests. This is something that they’ve been doing for millions of years. Growing figs doesn’t have to mean you are eating bugs, however. Some figs need these critters to make fruit, others don’t.
Let’s break down the fig-wasp hookup, the fig wasp life cycle, and whether you’re really scarfing down dead wasps in figs. Plus, it’ll bust that fig wasp myth that’s got people freaking out. You’ll see that this whole deal is more fascinating than creepy.
The Fig-Wasp Relationship Explained
Figs and fig wasps are like partners in a dance that’s been going strong for 80 million years. Every fig type, and there are over 750 out there, has its own special wasp pal which is perfectly suited to pollinate the plant. Fig trees have a kind of inverted flower. This little pod is called a syconium and only fig wasps are small enough to wiggle in and handle the pollination gig.
A female wasp squirms through a tiny hole in the syconium to drop her eggs and dust pollen from the fig from which she hatched. She sheds her wings to squeeze in, so this is a one way trip. Once the female wasp has pollinated the fig, fig seeds develop, and the wasp gets a snug spot for her young. It’s a sweet deal, called mutualism, where both sides lean on each other to keep the show running.
Fig Wasp Life Cycle
The fig wasp life cycle is wild and tied to the fig’s growth. Once she pollinates the figs and lays her eggs, she dies, and her job is done. The eggs hatch into larvae. Male wasps, wingless and blind, pop out first, mate with females, and chew tunnels to the outside so the females can leave the fig. Males, however, do not crawl out and die inside the fig.
The female wasps crawl out, grabbing pollen as they go. These females fly to another fig and start the cycle again. The whole process only takes a couple days and the life cycles of the fig wasps and the occurrence of unripe figs matches up perfectly. The process sounds intense, but it’s nature’s way of keeping both species alive.
Types of Figs and Wasps
However, not every fig needs a wasp to produce fruit. Wild figs, like strangler figs or banyans, count on specific fig wasps to get pollinated. For example, Ficus carica, your go-to edible fig, teams up with the Blastophaga psenes wasp in places like the Mediterranean.
But types like ‘Brown Turkey’ fig trees, which can be found on Fast Growing Trees, or ‘Celeste,’ popular across the U.S., are parthenocarpic. This means they produce fruit without wasps or pollination. Growers in spots like California often pick these self-pollinating varieties or use hormones to bypass the bug business. Around 850-900 wasp species work in tandem with wild figs, each one fitting like a key to its tree, but cultivated figs skip this for easier harvests.
Do We Eat Wasps in Figs?
So, are you eating wasps when you bite into a juicy fig? Well, it is partially true. In wild figs, like Smyrna or Calimyrna, a female wasp dies inside the fig after dropping her eggs. But the fig pumps out an enzyme, ficain, that melts the wasp’s body into plant food. So, dead wasps in figs? Sure, in some wild ones, but you’re not munching bug chunks. That crunch is just seeds, not critters.
Additionally, store-bought figs are almost always wasp-free. Most come from self-pollinating types or are grown without any bugs. Even in figs that need wasps, the insect is long gone by ripeness, broken down by the fig’s enzyme. No need to stress about chowing on bugs. Vegan or not, you can dig into figs without a worry.
Figs are a classic Mediterranean fruit, but don't fret if you are in a cooler part of the world. There are many types of fig trees that have been specially cultivated to grow in cooler climates like the ‘Chicago Hardy’ fig tree that is hardy to USDA zone 5 and can be found at Fast Growing Trees. You can also pair a dwarf fig tree like ‘Little Miss Figgy’ from Fast Growing Trees with an attractive plant dolly, like this one from Amazon, to easily move your container-grown fig tree from your patio into your home as the weather cools.
Fig wasps and figs have a wild, ancient partnership that’s more cool than creepy. The fig wasp life cycle keeps wild figs growing, but not every fig needs a wasp to make fruit. Busting the fig wasp myth, you’re not eating dead wasps in figs, thanks to the fig’s digestive enzyme. So go ahead and plant that fig tree!
