Are there wasps in your fig?

A wasp in my fig? That’s what a social media post claimed. The video went into great detail to explain how female wasps enter figs to lay eggs and die inside the fruit.

Yikes! Dead wasps? Was I unknowingly eating dead wasps all these years? I’m not a vegetarian; I eat all kinds of meat, as long as they’re palatable. But the thought of wasps in my figs left me with an uncomfortable feeling.

When I got home from the office, my wife had the same question. It was pure coincidence! During our post-dinner walk, she asked, “Are there really wasps in figs?” I had the sense that she was expecting a firm “no” from me. After all, I’m usually skeptical of these social media claims and dismiss many of them as fake news.

Why fig is not a fruit

But this time, my answer was different. “I saw the clip too. But I’m not sure if it’s true. It could be, or maybe it’s just someone trying to generate more views.”

The next day at the office, I decided to investigate if the wasp story was true. To my surprise, it turned out to be absolutely accurate.

Even more surprising was what I learned next. The article explained that a fig isn’t actually a fruit. Turns out, a fig is an inflorescence — a cluster of flowers and seeds inside a bulbous stem.

I discovered that a fig is actually the stem of an inflorescence with tiny flowers inside. The crunchy bits? They’re the seeds from each tiny flower. But where does the wasp come in?

Flowers need pollination to produce the next generation of fig trees. That’s where the wasps come in. They carry pollen from male flowers to the female flowers, completing the pollination process.

Pollinating fig flowers is an intricate process. According to the US Forest Service website: A female wasp, drawn by the scent of female fig flowers, enters through a tiny hole in the fig. She moves around, distributing the pollen on her body to female flowers inside the fig while laying eggs before dying inside.

The eggs hatch into larvae, which later become wasps. The males, who don’t have wings, mate with the females and die inside the fig. The females, covered with pollen from male flowers, climb out and fly away to another fig, where more female flowers are waiting for pollination.

Are figs vegetarian or non-vegetarian?

Figs and wasps have a symbiotic relationship — a form of mutualism that benefits both. It’s nature’s clever way of ensuring that wasps and figs keep reproducing.

Now, back to the original question: Are figs vegetarian or non-vegetarian? The answer is both yes and no.

Confused? Here’s why: Only some varieties of figs are pollinated by wasps — caprifigs, Smyrna, and San Pedro types. According to a report from the University of Florida, commercial varieties of figs are of the common type, which do not require wasp pollination. So, the chances of finding a wasp in your fig are zero.

Phew! That’s a relief.