Fig wasps #shorts

#science #pollination

[PoptartParasol]

That whole story is just a literal 'but wait- it gets worse'

Holy crab nature is metal

[dereksummers]

It's also interesting that the fig fully digests the wasp body, like a carnivorous plant, to utilize nutrients... So even though figs are basically wasp breeding grounds, there are no remnants of the wasp in the harvested fruit (in the majority of cases, I'm sure there are outliers)

[ml]

don’t worry everyone, most commercially grown figs are grown without the need for the fig wasp and there are a lot of varieties that don’t require them… you can also trick a fig tree into having its fruits ripen without the need for the wasps (some areas where figs are not native to don’t have the wasps anyway, so home growers usually pick a variety that can produce fruit without the need for a wasp)… so in conclusion the craziest thing about eating most figs is that you’re actually eating flowers

[m.vincent]

Just to be clear, the figs dissolve and use the wasp's matter to make fig-matter. By the time we eat them, the wasp is not even a thing, anymore. It is similar to using cow-poo for corn. The corn isn't poo. The fig isn't wasp.

[vineleak]

This is actually incorrect, fig wasps can only reproduce in caprifigs (the inedible wild type form of figs that have both male and female flowers), the edible figs we eat are strictly female and can be polinated but the fig wasp cannot reproduce inside of them. In most temperate climates, the fig wasp is absent and so if you are in the US for example, localy grown figs are persistent varieties (that can set fruit without polination) and have never seen a fig wasp...

[turtlellamacow]

Worth mentioning that almost all commercial figs are pollinated without the use of wasps. So no, you're not eating wasps, or even their digested remains.

[LyricWulf]

I'm never eating a fig bar ever again, thanks Steve!

[zc]

Should mention that not all figs are like this, most commercial figs will not contain any wasp

[Dogstar]

You forgot to mention that every species of fig has it's own species of wasp that services it.

[sillyhellhound]

So, all fig wasps could be descended from a single wasp that decided, "I'm gonna give birth in this fig." Then the babies didn't realize there were other wasps besides their siblings, mated, escaped, then decided they didn't like life outside of the fig and each found a new one to give birth in.

Edit: correcting autocorrect

[UmUs]

Figs are pretty nice, my grandma used to have a fig tree next to her porch, I ate fresh figs every now and then, kinda miss that tree

[lightspiritblix]

Any wasp I see, it's a fig wasp
Pearly guillotine, it's a fig wasp
when the harvest's clean, there's a fig wasp
It's a winged machine, it's a fig wasp

[cassiemoyles]

Didn't like figs before, this has definetly not changed my mind.

[tnt-boom]

"Sweet home Alabama" -The newborn wasps.

[bak]

My life was totally fine without knowing this. Thanks a lot Steve. Now I have to go ruin my kids lives and tell them what I've really been putting in their lunches.

[Robert-jyjm]

Imagine how many more things like this there are that only a few people know of.

[dismith]

Remember, not all figs have wasps in them. Some varieties - including many grown for the supermarkets - don't need to be pollinated by fig wasps. Instead, they're sprayed with certain hormones to make the fruit ripen or they're simply a type of fig that doesn't need pollination.

[ariscottle]

That’s some intense sibling relationship…

[gregster]

I was always told that any remaining wasps were absorbed by the fig, so if that's true, would that make the fig carnivorous?

[runringlee]

not sure if there is any Chinese here mentioned it already.
A Fig is called 無花果 and is translated as "Flowerless Fruit".
Just find it ironic how a "flowerless" fruit is full of flowers.