Did you know that figs are not a fruit? They are a flower and they also have dead insects inside them

Did you know that many of the figs we consume can host a dead wasp? We never noticed it because in reality the animal is decomposed through an enzyme, turning into proteins. A well known and fascinating mechanism

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Did you know that many of the figs we consume can host a dead wasp? We never noticed it because in reality the animal is decomposed through an enzyme, turning into proteins. A well known and fascinating mechanism.

The figs that commonly end up on our table are not a fruit but a flower. The trees do not bloom like apples and peaches but their flowers bloom inside the pod which subsequently ripens into the product we eat. Each flower then produces a single, hard-shelled fruit called achene, which gives the fig the crunch we know. The fig is made up of several achenes so when we eat one we are actually consuming more fruit.

But what does the wasp have to do with it? Figs have a unique feature. Since the flowers bloom internally, they need a special process for pollination. They can't just rely on the wind or bees to spread their pollen, but a specific creature must do it: the vespa of the fico or Blastophaga psenes. The latter cannot survive without its presence and at the same time the wasp cannot live without the fig tree, because that is where its larva lies. A relationship known as forced mutualism even if it is the insect that pays the consequences.

The Blastophaga-Fico system

The Blastophaga-Ficus system is strictly species-specific: only this insect is suitable for fertilizing the fig tree and allowing it to produce seeds. And the fig is the only tree suitable for allowing the life of the insect.

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The female wasp enters the male fig to lay eggs. The wings and antennae detach when the animal enters the narrow space reserved by the fig. Once inside, he has no way out. It is up to the baby wasps to continue the life cycle, digging a tunnel to exit the fig tree. It is the female offspring that make the journey to the outside world, taking pollen with them.

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This does not mean that the fig contains a wasp carcass. In fact, it uses an enzyme known as ficin to reduce the animal into proteins, even if it does not always manage to do so with the entire exoskeleton. So, technically it can happen that when we bite a fig we also eat wasps or their remains.

But not all figs contain them. Some are "parthenocarpy" which means they do not require fertilization.

Fascinating mechanisms of Mother Nature.

READ also:

• Figs: properties, benefits and calories
• How to grow a fig tree at no cost (VIDEO)