Of Flowers and Figs

Nature has offered me so much to think about. Right now I'm thinking about how certain insects know which particular flowers they are partnered with to aid in the pollination process.

My hobby of gardening, provides me with many hours of amazement and enjoyment. Planting and raising fruits and flowers gives me a peek at the complex methods of reproduction that are used in the world of flowers and insects. It also reminds me of how this aspect of life has been completely planned and designed for all species.

One of my favorite fruits to raise is the watermelon. Watching the blossoms on the vine opening to be pollinated by the insects starts the amazing process. Those little flowers, working together with their small insect helpers, create the very large melons I love to eat. These partners have never met each other before, but they know exactly how to follow the rules of some unseen plan. I watch in awe, as I wait for the very small fruits to grow into large full grown watermelons, full of seeds for next season's encores.

OK, maybe it's commonly understood that fruits contain seeds that, when planted, will produce a bush, vine or tree that, in turn, will produce the seeds for the continued existence of the species. But there are some very peculiar variations on that scheme. Here's how it usually works. 

Flowers (blossoms) have built-in reproductive organs. Each flower has both male and female organs (stamens and stigmas). The stamens have the pollen that is easily blown off by the wind or brushed onto insects that carry it elsewhere. The stigma  has a sticky surface designed to receive any pollen that arrives and to ensure that it adheres securely. That process of male and female cells joining starts the miracle of life. It's true for the flowers, the trees, the plants, the fruits and for us.

Yes, I marvel at all I have said about the incredible process of reproduction and the very important relationship that exists between insects and the flowers. But, there is one fruit that makes this whole process a little more complex. I offer you the Capri Fig.

This particular fig is more than just a fruit. Yes, it has blooms, and yes, it is pollinated when the male and female parts are united - but this fig is also something else! It's also a NEST.

The flowers (female) are inside the fig (shown as the red portion). The male stamens (shown in orange) are also inside at the entrance to the fig's interior. That opening is called the "eye" and is the entrance used by tiny wasps that enter there and do the fig pollinating. The cycle begins with a female wasp entering the fig, brushing past the male pollen at the entrance, then moving among the flowers to pollinate them. So far, so good, right? Well, it gets weird from here on out.

Male wasps will enter the fig in search of the female wasps inside. There, they proceed with their own efforts to reproduce, by fertilizing the female wasps. The female, now leaves this fig and heads for another. The male is left behind to die - his job is done.

The fertilized female enters a new fig through the eye. She gets covered with the fig pollen as she brushes into the interior, heading for the fig flowers. They are pollinated by her squirming around in there, but that's not exactly what she has in mind. She is there to lay her wasp eggs! The inside of the fig is her nest. When the eggs hatch, the new wasps will leave to go to other figs. The life cycle for both the figs and the wasps then begins again. The figs ripen and are eaten. You're probably thinking - Whoa! Are there still insects inside the fig when it is eaten? Yep, there are. 
"Would you like a fig, Gene?"
No thank you ☺