Blastophaga psenes
| Blastophaga psenes | |
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| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Agaonidae |
| Genus: | Blastophaga |
| Species: | B. psenes |
| Binomial name | |
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Blastophaga psenes (Linnaeus, 1758) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Blastophaga psenes is a wasp species in the genus Blastophaga. It pollinates the common fig Ficus carica and the closely related Ficus palmata.B. psenes has a short life cycle and is a free-living wasp. Without a colony or nest, these wasps breed in figs and live for only a few days or weeks. They locate the fig they wish to pollinate through olfactory senses.
Mutualism occurs between fig and fig wasps, which creates a need for specific species of figs to be pollinated by specific species of wasps. The origin of mutualism is also the beginning of the fig wasp phylogeny. In the phylogenetic tree, the genus of Blastophaga and Wiebesia are very similar. Both of these genera pollinate Ficus species of figs.
B. psenes are small wasps, approximately only 2 millimeters in length. The females are black wasps and seem shiny while the males are smaller than females. While males are wingless, females have wings that are transparent and very thin. Yet females' wings and antennae detach as they enter the opening of a fig. Upon dissecting a fig, one can see the wings of the wasps at the opening of the fig and adult wasps, larvae, and eggs are found within the fig. Because these wasps are free-living, they only live for a few days or weeks.
Because B. psenes relies on Ficus carica to breed, it is found in regions where this fig species grows. These wasps' native range is in the Palaearctic, including Southern Europe near the Mediterranean Basin. B. psenes has been introduced on other continents to ensure that Ficus carica bear fruit there.
Adult B. psenes only live for a few days or weeks, and at maxiumum, much less than a month. These wasps lay fertilized eggs in the syconium of a F. carica fig. When the larvae hatch, they develop in the fig ovaries, creating a gall. The larvae become adults around the same time male fig flowers are ready to produce pollen. When an adult wasp is mature, it mates with another wasp within the syconium. After mating, females emerge from the fig and search for a new nearby fig in which to lay their eggs. The female then oviposits into a new syconium. From there, the short life cycle of a B. psenes continues.
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Wikipedia