Spatial Stratification of Internally and Externally Non-Pollinating Fig Wasps and Their Effects on Pollinator and Seed Abundance in Ficus burkei

Abstract

Fig trees (Ficus spp.) are pollinated by tiny wasps that enter their enclosed inflorescences (syconia). The wasp larvae also consume some fig ovules, which negatively affects seed production. Within syconia, pollinator larvae mature mostly in the inner ovules whereas seeds develop mostly in outer ovules—a stratification pattern that enables mutualism persistence. Pollinators may prefer inner ovules because they provide enemy-free space from externally ovipositing parasitic wasps. In some Australasian Ficus, this results in spatial segregation of pollinator and parasite offspring within syconia, with parasites occurring in shorter ovules than pollinators. Australian figs lack non-pollinating fig wasps (NPFW) that enter syconia to oviposit, but these occur in Africa and Asia, and may affect mutualist reproduction via parasitism or seed predation. We studied the African fig, F. burkei, and found a similar general spatial pattern of pollinators and NPFWs within syconia as in Australasian figs. However, larvae of the NPFW Philocaenus barbarus, which enters syconia, occurred in inner ovules. Philocaenus barbarus reduced pollinator abundance but not seed production, because its larvae replaced pollinators in their favoured inner ovules. Our data support a widespread role for NPFWs in contributing to factors preventing host overexploitation in fig-pollinator mutualisms.