Ceratosolen Explained

Ceratosolen is an Old World wasp genus in the family Agaonidae (fig wasps). They are pollinators of the monoecious[1] fig subsections Sycomorus and Sycocarpus, and the section Neomorphe,[2] all belonging to the subgenus Sycomorus.[3] [4] The genus is native to the Palearctic, Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Australasian realms.[3]

Biology

Adults enter through the fig ostiole, a narrow, bract-lined passage, then pollinate and attempt to oviposit on the flowers.[5] Flower ovules that receive an egg become galled and the larvae consume the gall tissue. Pollinated flowers missed by the wasps produce one seed each. The adult offspring emerge from the gall and mate in the fig, before the winged female wasps disperse, carrying the flower pollen with them.[5]

Associations

Several non-pollinating wasp species of the Chalcidoidea exploit the mutualism.[5] Sycophaga sycomori oviposits inside the short-style flowers, thereby stimulating the growth of endosperm tissue and the enlargement and ripening of the syconium which holds the wasp-bearing drupelets, without pollination taking place.[6] The parasitic species Apocrypta guineensis and Sycoscapter niger use long ovipositors to pierce the fig wall to infect the larvae during their development inside the flower galls,[7] and consequently reduce pollinator production.[5]

Species

There are more than 60 described species, including:[3]

Notes and References

  1. Weiblen . George D. . Phylogenetic relationships of functionally dioecious FICUS (Moraceae) based on ribosomal DNA sequences and morphology . American Journal of Botany . September 2000 . 87 . 9 . 1342–1357 . 10.2307/2656726. 2656726 . 10991904 . free .
  2. Zhen . Wen-Quan . Huang . Da-Wei . Xiao . Jin-Hua . Yang . Da-Rong . Zhu . Chao-Dong . Xiao . Hui . Ovipositor length of three Apocrypta species: Effect on oviposition behavior and correlation with syconial thickness . Phytoparasitica . April 2005 . 33 . 2 . 113–120 . 10.1007/BF03029967 . 35479915 . 5 October 2015.
  3. Web site: Van Noort . Ceratosolen Mayr . Figweb . iziko museums . 9 July 2014 . etal . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140714214805/http://www.figweb.org/Fig_wasps/Agaonidae/Kradibiinae/Ceratosolen/index.htm . 14 July 2014 .
  4. Web site: Van Noort . Fig tree classification . Figweb . iziko museums . 12 October 2015 . etal . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150927124903/http://www.figweb.org/Ficus/Classification_of_figs/index.htm . 27 September 2015 .
  5. Harrison. Rhett D.. Evolution of Fruit Traits in Ficus Subgenus Sycomorus (Moraceae): To What Extent Do Frugivores Determine Seed Dispersal Mode? . PLOS ONE . 5 June 2012 . 10.1371/journal.pone.0038432 . etal . 7 . 6. e38432 . 22679505 . 3367955. free.
  6. Web site: Armstrong . W.P. . Gall flowers in figs: Does The Fig Wasp Really Produce A Gall? . Wayne's Word . 9 July 2014 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140316104708/http://waynesword.palomar.edu/gallfig.htm . 16 March 2014 .
  7. Van Noort . Simon . Van Harten, Antonius . The species richness of fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae, Pteromalidae) in Yemen . Fauna of Arabia . 2006-12-18 . 22 . 449–472 . 1 January 2013.

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