Incestuous fig wasps: death in paradise [HD]
Channel: Peter Chen 2.0
Date: 2023-06-25

A World within a Fig: The wasps of Ficus racemosa and Ficus hispida
02:52 Ficus racemosa and its symbiotic pollinator wasp Ceratosolen fusciceps
03:48 female wasp enters the fig through a small opening called the ostiole
04:22 Ficus hispida and its mutualistic pollinator wasp Ceratosolen solmsi
04:54 female wasp ovipositing and forming galls for her larvae to grow
06:50 wasp actively pollinating stigmas from pollen pockets
07:04 Ficus racemosa monoecious anatomy: Ceratosolen fusciceps lays eggs in synstigma
08:24 Ficus hispida dioecious anatomy: Ceratosolen solmsi pollinates female flowers but lays eggs in male figs, then dies
10:05 golden, wingless, haploid male offspring emerge first, mate with unborn diploid female sisters
12:58 Apocrypta male wasps are non-pollinating, have spiracles
13:25 black, winged female offspring emerge, gather pollen into their pollen pockets
15:48 juvenile nematode worms also emerge, attach themselves to female wasps
16:27 male wasps tunnel out of the fig, captured by ants, then females escape
18:26 Chalcid non-pollinating female wasps are parasitoids

Written & edited by Dominique Vassie
Music by Conor Emerson
Scientific Advisor: Stephen G. Compton
Animation by Dominique Vassie
Footage by Silverback Films

With thanks to the Thailand filming team:
Dr Wattana Tanming
Nick Shoolingin-Jordan
Alastair MacEwen
Sarah-Jane Walsh
Tammy

And with thanks to the Queen Sirikit Botanic Garden and the University of Leeds

Sounds from BBC Sound Effects
Film footage © Silverback Films

This film was produced as part of an MSc thesis for the University of Leeds titled:
'The use of documentary film footage to understand the behaviour of fig wasps' by Dominique Vassie, 2021.

This film was produced for educational purposes only.