Parasitism Features of a Fig Wasp of Genus Apocrypta (Pteromalidae: Pteromalinae) Associated with a Host Belonging to Ficus Subgenus Ficus

Abstract

Non-pollinating fig wasps (NPFWs), particularly long-ovipositored Sycoryctina wasps, exhibit a high species specificity and exert complex ecological effects on the obligate mutualism between the plant genus Ficus and pollinating fig wasps. Apocrypta is a genus of NPFWs that mostly interacts with the Ficus species under the subgenus Sycomorus, and the symbiosis case between Apocrypta and F. pedunculosa var. mearnsii, a Ficus species under subgenus Ficus, is unique. As fig’s internal environments and the wasp communities are distinct between the two subgenera, we addressed the following two questions: (1) Are the parasitism features of the Apocrypta wasp associated with F. pedunculosa var. mearnsii different from those of other congeneric species? (2) Is this Apocrypta species an efficient wasp that lives in its unique host? Our observation revealed that this wasp is an endoparasitic idiobiont parasitoid, as most congeneric species are, but developed a relatively long ovipositor. Furthermore, the relationships of the parasitism rate versus the pollinator number, the fig wall, and the sex ratio of the pollinator, respectively, showed that it possessed a higher parasitism ability than that of other congeners. However, its parasitism rate was low, and thus it was not an efficient wasp in its habitat. This difference between parasitism ability and parasitism rate might be a consequence of its oviposition strategy and the severe habitat conditions. These findings may also provide insights into the mechanism to maintain the interaction between the fig tree and the fig wasp community.

First Evidence of Thalassochory in the Ficus Genus: Seed Dispersal Using the Kuroshio Oceanic Current

“…Mearns figs have been found only on this kind of rock, from a few meters to 30 m away from the sea (Figure 1b,c). The pollinating wasp associated with the plant is Blastophaga pedunculosae [29], while the only known non-pollinating wasp belongs to the genus Apocrypta [30].…”

Effect of temperature on the development of two pupal parasitoid species of <i>Xanthopimpla</i> Saussure (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae) on <i>Sesamia inferens</i> Walker

“…An increase in the size of the egg after oviposition was also observed in other endoparasitic species viz., Itoplectis naranyae (Ueno and Ueno, 2007), Therophilus javanus (Aboubakar et al, 2021), Apocrypta sp. (Chou et al, 2023).…”