Topics

Is there a female fig wasp stuck in my teeth?

I got your attention ! :)

Nice article at
http://animals.howstuffworks.com/insects/fig-wasp.htm

From there:

Is there a female fig wasp stuck in my teeth?

Most commercially grown figs are pollinated by wasps. And yes, edible figs wind up with at least one dead female wasp inside. But it's still not quite the childhood myth of fruits squirming with insect meat. It's all part of the mutually beneficial relationship that exists between fig wasp and fig plant.

A few points worth remembering about the wasp content:

1.   When a female wasp dies inside an edible fig, an enzyme in the fig called ficin breaks down her carcass into protein. The fig basically digests the dead insect, making it a part of the resulting ripened fruit. The crunchy bits in figs are seeds, not anatomical parts of a wasp.


… and more

That's a fair description of what happens, but it is not entirely accurate.  On the second page, it describes Caprifigs as male and having male flowers that receive the wasp eggs.  However, caprifigs have both male and female flowers, and it is the female flowers of the caprifigs with short 'styles' that are the ones the wasps lay their eggs in.

I wish my blackberries produced ficin to disolve the SWD, because they are squirming with insect meat unless I pick them when they are still tart.  :(

I will be ripping two bushes out and replacing with blueberries, they mostly ripen before the SWD are in full swing. The SWD also don't seem to bother them unless something has broken the skin.

Insects are meat, just in a different package. :)

Fiber and extra protein!

Reply Cancel
Subscribe Share Cancel