I remember seeing them last summer on the leaves of my black jack, but this afternoon, unquestionably i confirmed the presence of the famous fig wasp in my backyard. they were on the surface of my soil in my yellow long neck container. I put a piece of white printer paper on the surface hoping they would hop or fly on, so that I could take a photo, but they wouldn't bite.

So does this mean a capri fig is located nearby? What is the maximum distance they can travel from a nearby capri fig tree? 1 mile, 5 miles?

A mild (or warm winter) may have advanced in a couple of weeks the hatching of insects from the winter fig (Mamme) and what you saw are probably these wasps searching for the young Profichis.
The 'official' date for these wasps to show up would be 20/25th March)
Have pictures ?
A Caprifig could well be not too far away, particularly if you see many wasps.

(These insects just carry their load of eggs to lay on the Profichi galls and have NO pollen at all)

Francisco
Portugal

I have seen a number of caprifigs growing around the LAX and south of it in a park.
You probably have more capris near by than you are aware of. Almost every park/ golf course has one, as well as the parking lots.

 
This picture dates from March 28/2015 -08H26 AM
it shows the insects leaving a potted  Mamme Caprifig in search of the young Profichi.

Francisco

Igor, thank you for the awesome cuttings. you even threw in some strawberry teardrops which was very kind. I live near LAX and I have never seen a capri tree, or maybe I am not looking hard enough

Francisco, those look exactly like the wasps I saw today! Lots of them! thank you for the photo and your comments. In your opinion only, do you feel that I do not need a capri tree? I am not an expert on fig wasps -- can the wasps be random or coincidental on a year by year basis?

Nick,

From what I have been reading on posts in this forum, winter has been mild in California with no particular excesses... so it could be a good year for wasps so you saw them on your yard.
If weather keeps mild, no reason not to believe that when the season reaches pollen time (May/June) many pollinator insects will visit your figs... you need to watch

Assuming the Mamme crop in one particular area ripens 1,000 fruit
Then the number of Profichis ready to accept the insects exiting the Mamme, will be 4, 6,..10/12 times
those Mamme.. this is to say that there will be plenty (if weather helps).

Search around your neighborhood an look for figs.. There will be not enough leaves (I hope) to hide the fruit. So it will be not too difficult to locate if they are there... (Caution: watch the traffic)

Believe you stand a good chance to get your figs pollinated by wasp from someone else caprifig
Watch you yard.. if they are abundant, some may already be visiting your trees.
Watch for spider webs circling the figs/ trees.. look against sunlight.. it's easier to detect the web
Wasp predators know well in advance of humans when the wasp comes and set their traps in waiting.



A pack of still green Violetas with the spider webs set in waiting for the coming wasps in June/2015 .

Francisco
Portugal