Fig-wasp
Guides
Agaoninae
pollinating fig wasps
Agaoninae is a subfamily of pollinating fig wasps within the family Agaonidae. Members are obligate mutualists of Ficus species, developing their entire larval stage inside fig fruits. The subfamily exhibits remarkable morphological stasis, with fossil forms from the Eocene and Miocene nearly identical to modern representatives. Some lineages, such as the proposed Hexapus group, retain ancestral traits including females with two mandibular appendages and hexapodous males with functional mid-legs.
Blastophaga psenes
Common Fig Wasp
Blastophaga psenes is a minute chalcidoid wasp, approximately 2 mm in length, and the obligate pollinator of Ficus carica (common fig) and Ficus palmata. Females are winged, black, and shiny; males are smaller, wingless, and do not disperse from the fig. The species exhibits extreme sexual dimorphism and a highly specialized mutualistic relationship with its host figs. Adults live only a few days to weeks, breeding exclusively within fig syconia without constructing nests or colonies. The species is native to the Palaearctic region and has been introduced globally to support commercial fig cultivation.
Idarnes
Idarnes is a genus of chalcid wasps in the family Agaonidae (fig wasps), first described by Walker in 1843. These wasps are associated with fig trees (Ficus), where they develop as inquilines or parasitoids within fig syconia. The genus is part of the subfamily Sycophaginae, a group of non-pollinating fig wasps that exploit fig resources without providing pollination services. Idarnes species are found primarily in the Neotropics.
Odontofroggatia
Odontofroggatia is a genus of non-pollinating fig wasps in the family Epichrysomallidae. The genus is associated with a narrow range of host fig species, specifically Ficus microcarpa and Ficus prasinicarpa. Members develop within fig fruits as parasitoids or inquilines. The genus was established by Ishii in 1934.
Ormyridae
Ormyridae is a small family of parasitic wasps in the superfamily Chalcidoidea. Members are parasitoids or hyperparasitoids of gall-forming insects, primarily cynipid wasps and tephritid flies. The family comprises approximately 153 species across three subfamilies (Asparagobiinae, Hemadinae, Ormyrinae) and several genera, with the majority in the genus Ormyrus. Ormyridae has a cosmopolitan distribution but is almost entirely absent from South America. Adults of many species exhibit iridescent coloration and distinctive metasomal sculpturing.
Ormyrus
Ormyrus is a genus of small chalcid wasps in the family Ormyridae, containing approximately 145 described species. These wasps are parasitoids primarily associated with gall-forming insects, including cynipid gall wasps, chalcid wasps, gall midges, and tephritid fruit flies. The genus exhibits significant cryptic diversity, as demonstrated by the case of Ormyrus labotus, long considered a single generalist species attacking over 65 host species, but now recognized as a complex of at least 16–18 genetically distinct, morphologically identical specialist species. Ormyrus species are found across the Old World and North America.
Pegoscapus
Pegoscapus is a genus of pollinating fig wasps in the family Agaonidae, native to the Americas from Florida and Mexico to Argentina. The genus exhibits an obligate mutualism with fig trees of the genus Ficus, specifically pollinating species in section Americana of subgenus Urostigma. Females are winged and larger with longer antennae, while males are wingless with reduced eyes and shorter antennae. The genus is estimated to be over 20 million years old based on fossil evidence from Dominican amber.
Pleistodontes
A genus of fig wasps (Agaonidae) native to Australia and New Guinea, with one species (P. claviger) from Java. Species in this genus are pollinators of Ficus section Malvanthera within subgenus Urostigma. The genus contains approximately 25 described species, with taxonomic revision work indicating some species boundaries remain under investigation.
Pleistodontes froggatti
Moreton Bay fig wasp
Pleistodontes froggatti is a small fig wasp native to Australia with an obligate mutualistic relationship with the Moreton Bay fig (Ficus macrophylla). The species was deliberately introduced to Hawaii in 1921 to support fig cultivation, and established in New Zealand by 1993 through long-distance dispersal or accidental transport. Adult females are approximately 3 mm in length, while males are smaller at 1.5 mm and exhibit distinct coloration. The wasp cannot reproduce outside the syconia of its specific host fig.
Pleistodontes imperialis
Port Jackson Fig Wasp
Pleistodontes imperialis is a fig wasp native to Australia that maintains an obligate mutualism with Ficus rubiginosa (Port Jackson fig), serving as its exclusive pollinator. It is the type species of the genus Pleistodontes. The species has been introduced outside its native range through the ornamental planting of its host figs in Mediterranean urban habitats, with confirmed records from Greece and Cyprus. In its introduced range, it has demonstrated host-switching behavior, also developing in Ficus watkinsiana figs despite this species having a different native pollinator.
Pteromalidae
Pteromalidae is a large family of chalcidoid wasps containing approximately 3,450 described species in about 640 genera. The family underwent major taxonomic revision in 2022, when it was split into 24 families due to recognition of its polyphyletic nature; the remaining Pteromalidae now comprises 8 subfamilies. Members are predominantly parasitoids of other insects, with life history strategies spanning solitary to gregarious, ectoparasitoid to endoparasitoid, and primary parasitoid to hyperparasitoid. Several species are important biological control agents of agricultural and nuisance pests.
Sycoscapter
Sycoscapter is a genus of non-pollinating fig wasps first described by Saunders in 1883. These wasps are native to the Afrotropical, Indomalayan, and Australasian biogeographic realms. They function as parasitoids, specifically targeting fig wasps in the genera Ceratosolen, Eupristina, and Kradibia. As members of the family Pteromalidae, they represent one of many lineages involved in the complex ecological networks associated with fig trees (Ficus).
Walkerella
Walkerella is a genus of non-pollinating fig wasps in the family Pteromalidae, subfamily Otitesellinae. It is the most widely distributed genus within its subfamily, with species described from the Old World. Members are associated with Ficus fig trees, specifically species in subsection Conosycea of section Urostigma. Two new species were recently described from Xishuangbanna, China.