DOI: 10.5061/dryad.2v6wwpztw
title: Foundress number in local ecological factors, not interference competition, drive the foundress number of two species of fig wasp sharing Ficus septica figs

description: Recent studies have challenged assumptions about the classic fig-fig wasp
 pollination mutualism model, suggesting that further investigation into
 the receptive phase of fig development is needed. This study assessed the
 pollination mechanisms of Ficus septica in southern Taiwan and identified
 two species of wasps as the primary pollinators. Machine learning was used
 to identify and rank the factors that explain the relative abundance of
 these wasps. The two wasp species showed the highest level of cohabitation
 ever reported in the literature, with three-quarters of the figs
 containing multiple foundresses. The study also reported re-emerged
 foundresses and a 10% ratio of pollinated figs without foundresses. Local
 factors, such as the sampling period and tree identity, were the best
 predictors of the presence and number of each foundress species, with fig
 size also affecting the number of foundresses. The study highlights the
 variability in pollinator abundance between figs, crops, and trees. It
 also shows that the local environment of the trees and the availability of
 figs are crucial factors in determining which figs the pollinator wasps
 choose. These findings challenge assumptions about the classic mutualism
 model and suggest that long-term surveys are needed to estimate the
 relative contributions of each partner and provide data for evolutionary
 and ecological models. This study also provides valuable insights into the
 factors that affect the abundance and interactions of pollinator wasps
 during the receptive phase of fig development, with implications for
 understanding the behaviour of pollinating wasps and advancing our
 knowledge of population dynamics in Ficus species.
description: See "Local ecological factors, not interference competition,
 drive the foundress number of two species of fig wasp sharing
 <em>Ficus </em>septica figs" authored by Bruno DI GIUSTO
 and Anthony BAIN on Plos One (2023) for methods.
description: \##GENERAL INFORMATION 1. Title of Dataset: Foundress number in Local
 ecological factors, not interference competition, drive the foundress
 number of two species of fig wasp sharing Ficus septica figs 2. Author
 Information Name: Anthony Bain Institution: National Sun Yat-sen
 University Address: Kaohsiung, Taiwan Email:
 3. Date of data collection (single
 date, range, approximate date): 2018-2021 4. Geographic location of data
 collection: National Sun Yat-sen University Campus 5.
 Licenses/restrictions placed on the data: CC0 1.0 Universal (CC0 1.0)
 Public Domain 6. Links to publications that cite or use the data: Di
 Giusto, B., and A. Bain. 2023. Local ecological factors, not interference
 competition, drive the foundress number of two species of fig wasp sharing
 Ficus septica figs. PLoS ONE. 10.1371/journal.pone.0290439 1. Recommended
 citation for this dataset: Bain A. (2023). Foundress number in Local
 ecological factors, not interference competition, drive the foundress
 number of two species of fig wasp sharing Ficus septica figs. Dryad
 Digital Repository. 10.5061/dryad.2v6wwpztw ## Description of the data and
 file structure Number of Ceratosolen pollinating foundress wasps in Ficus
 septica figs and asssociated characteristics. Excel file with a line
 corresponding to a fig. Column A: Name - ALL; Data - Total number of wasp
 foundresses (Sum of columns A and B) Column B: Name - ORA; Data - Number
 of orange morphospecies foundresses Column C: Name - BLA; Data - Number of
 black morphospecies foundresses Column D: Name - ID; Data - Tree
 identification number Column E: Name - SEX; Data - Sex of the sampled tree
 Column F: Name - MONTH; Data - Sampling month Column G: Name - SEASON;
 Data - Sampling season (Winter in DEC, JAN, FEB; Spring in MAR, APR, MAY;
 Summer in JUN, JUL, AUG; and Fall in SEP, OCT, NOV) Column H: Name - YEAR;
 Data - Sampling year Column I: Name - SURF; Data - The surface of the
 sampled calculated from two diameter measurements (proxy for size)