greenfig
Registered:1359790036 Posts: 3,182
Posted 1409335946
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#1
I got your attention ! :) Nice article athttp://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.
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eboone
Registered:1378418906 Posts: 1,100
Posted 1409338644
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#2
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.
__________________ Ed Zone 6A - Southwest PA --------------------------- Short wish list: CDDG, LSU Red, Dark Greek (Navid), Col Littman's Black Cross . And any cold hardy early fig.
cis4elk
Registered:1347840383 Posts: 1,718
Posted 1409343223
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#3
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.
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Charlie
Registered:1404043833 Posts: 1,214
Posted 1409354779
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#4
Insects are meat, just in a different package. :)
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waynea
Registered:1362316304 Posts: 1,886
Posted 1409354995
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#5
Fiber and extra protein!