Apocrypta

Abstract: Summary Flowering cycles in the ‘Balami’ variety of Ficus sycomorus, the sycomore, were studied in connection with the sycophilous wasps Sycophaga sycomori and Apocrypta longitarsus. In the coastal plain of Israel the syconia of Ficus sycomorus may follow either of two developmental courses: most of the syconia swell rapidly, when still at an early stage of anthesis, thus producing genuinely ‘vegetative parthenocarpic’ fruit; some of them, however, become inhabited by Svcophaga sycomori and then follow a full developmental course, ultimately producing ‘stimulative parthenocarpic’ fruit. The latter type of fruit is seedless, as is the former, and the stimulus for its development is provided by the wasps ovipositing in the flower ovaries and by the subsequent activity of the wasp larvae within. In order to ascertain the reason for the absence of seeds, controlled pollination experiments were conducted. These experiments, and also systematic observations on the sequence of flowering generations throughout the year, have yielded information on seed-setting and the interrelations between the sycomore and its wasps.

Abstract: . 1. The interaction between Ficus species and their pollinating wasps (Agaonidae) represents a striking example of a mutualism. Figs also shelter numerous non-pollinating chalcids that exploit the fig–pollinator mutualism. 2. Previous studies showed a weak negative correlation between numbers of pollinating and non-pollinating adults emerging from the same fruit. Little is known about the patterns and intensities of interactions between fig wasps. In the Xishuangbanna tropical rainforests of China, the dioecious Ficus hispida L. is pollinated by Ceratosolen solmsi marchali Mayr and is also exploited by the non-pollinators Philotrypesis pilosa Mayr, Philotrypesis sp., and Apocrypta bakeri Joseph. Here, the interaction of pollinator and non-pollinators on F. hispida is studied quantitatively. 3. The exact time of oviposition was determined for each species of fig wasp. Based on observational and experimental work it is suggested that (i) the relationship between pollinator and non-pollinators is a positive one, and that the genus Philotrypesis appears to have no significant impact on the pollinator population, whereas Apocrypta has a significant effect on both Philotrypesis and Ceratosolen; (ii) gall numbers do not always increase with increasing number of foundresses, but developmental mortality of larvae correlates positively with the number of foundresses; and (iii) there is a positive correlation between non-pollinator numbers and their rates of parasitism, but the three species of non-pollinators differed in their rates of parasitism and show different effects on pollinator production. 4. The rates of parasitism when combined with the coexistent percentage and developmental mortality, underpin the way non-pollinating fig wasps successfully exploit and coexist stably in a fig–pollinator mutualism.

Abstract: Observations were made on six fig wasp species on Ficus racemosa growing in the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanic Garden, Yunnan Province, China. The oviposition sequence was determined for Apocryptophagus testacea, Apocrypta sp2, Apocryptophagus mayri, Ceratosolen fusciceps and Apocrypta westwood. An experiment was carried out in which each species of non-pollinating wasp was separately introduced into bagged figs which prevented other species from ovipositing. This showed that the non-pollinators Apocryptophagus testacea and A. mayri are foragers (gall makers) of the female flowers, and that the other species were parasitoids or inquilines. Additional evidence from naturally unpollinated inflorescences suggested that A. agraensis is most likely a parasitoid of the pollinator, Ceratosolen fusciceps, and that Apocrypta westwood and Apocrypta sp. are the parasitoids of Apocryptophagus mayri and A. testacea, respectively. These results indicate that the fig wasps inhabiting F. racemosa figs either utilize different developmental stages of the same resources (female flowers) or utilize different food resources.

Abstract: In a complex multitrophic plant-animal interaction system in which there are direct and indirect interactions between species, comprehending the dynamics of these multiple partners is very important for an understanding of how the system is structured. We investigated the plant Ficus racemosa L. (Moraceae) and its community of obligatory mutualistic and parasitic fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea) that develop within the fig inflorescence or syconium, as well as their interaction with opportunistic ants. We focused on temporal resource partitioning among members of the fig wasp community over the development cycle of the fig syconia during which wasp oviposition and development occur and we studied the activity rhythm of the ants associated with this community. We found that the seven members of the wasp community partitioned their oviposition across fig syconium development phenology and showed interspecific variation in activity across the day-night cycle. The wasps presented a distinct sequence in their arrival at fig syconia for oviposition, with the parasitoid wasps following the galling wasps. Although fig wasps are known to be largely diurnal, we documented night oviposition in several fig wasp species for the first time. Ant activity on the fig syconia was correlated with wasp activity and was dependent on whether the ants were predatory or trophobiont-tending species; only numbers of predatory ants increased during peak arrivals of the wasps.