Ceratosolen

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Ceratosolen
Ceratosolen capensis op Ficus sur, Jan Celliers Park, a.jpg
C. capensis, adult female
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Agaonidae
Subfamily: Kradibiinae
Genus: Ceratosolen
Mayr, 1885
Type species
Blastophaga appendiculata
(Mayr, 1885)
Species

See text

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]

Contents

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]

Related Research Articles

<i>Ficus</i> Genus of flowering plants in the mulberry family Moraceae

Ficus is a genus of about 850 species of woody trees, shrubs, vines, epiphytes and hemiepiphytes in the family Moraceae. Collectively known as fig trees or figs, they are native throughout the tropics with a few species extending into the semi-warm temperate zone. The common fig (F. carica) is a temperate species native to southwest Asia and the Mediterranean region, which has been widely cultivated from ancient times for its fruit, also referred to as figs. The fruit of most other species are also edible though they are usually of only local economic importance or eaten as bushfood. However, they are extremely important food resources for wildlife. Figs are also of considerable cultural importance throughout the tropics, both as objects of worship and for their many practical uses.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fig wasp</span> Group of mostly pollinating insects whose larvae live in figs

Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Some are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while the pollinators are in the family Agaonidae. While pollinating fig wasps are gall-makers, the remaining types either make their own galls or usurp the galls of other fig wasps; reports of their being parasitoids are considered dubious.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agaonidae</span> Family of wasps

The family Agaonidae is a group of pollinating fig wasps. They spend their larval stage inside the fruits of figs. The pollinating wasps are the mutualistic partners of the fig trees. Extinct forms from the Eocene and Miocene are nearly identical to modern forms, suggesting that the niche has been stable over geologic time.

<i>Ficus pumila <span style="font-style:normal;">var.</span> awkeotsang</i> Variety of climbing fig

Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang, also known as the jelly fig, aiyu, or ai-yu, is a variety of Ficus pumila, and a member of the fig family Moraceae, native to Taiwan. The plant is known for its use in making aiyu jelly.

<i>Ficus americana</i> Species of fig tree native to the Neotropics

Ficus americana, commonly known as the West Indian laurel fig or Jamaican cherry fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae which is native to the Caribbean, Mexico in the north, through Central and South America south to southern Brazil. It is an introduced species in Florida, USA. The species is variable; the five recognised subspecies were previously placed in a large number of other species.

<i>Pleistodontes</i> Genus of wasps

Pleistodontes is a genus of fig wasps native to Australia and New Guinea, with one species from Java. Fig wasps have an obligate mutualism with the fig species they pollinate. Pleistodontes pollinates species in section Malvanthera of the Ficus subgenus Urostigma.

<i>Ficus hispida</i> Species of tropical fig tree

Ficus hispida, also known as the opposite leaf Fig, is a small tree in the family Moraceae, with a distribution ranging from India and southern China southwards to northern Australia. It is morphologically gynodioecious, but functionally dioecious. Male trees are hermaphrodites with both staminate flowers that produce pollen and pistillate flowers that produce almost no seeds but can form galls containing pollinator wasp larvae. Female trees have pistillate flowers that do produce seeds but are inhospitable to pollinator wasp larvae.

<i>Ficus sur</i> Species of fig

Ficus sur, with the common names Cape fig and broom cluster fig, is a widespread Afrotropical species of cauliflorous fig.

<i>Ficus salicifolia</i> Species or subspecies of Afrotropical fig

The Wonderboom is an evergreen fig species that ranges from the KwaZulu-Natal midlands northwards to tropical East Africa. It grows especially on outcrops, rocky hillsides and along cliffs fringing water courses and may rarely grow up to 10 m tall, and acquire a leafy spreading crown.

<i>Ficus auriculata</i> Species of fig

Ficus auriculata is a type of fig tree, native to subtropical and tropical mainland Asia. It is noted for its big and round leaves and edible fruit.

<i>Sycophaga</i> Genus of wasps

Sycophaga is a mainly Afrotropical genus of fig wasps that live on the section Sycomorus of the monoecious fig subgenus, Sycomorus, and one of several fig wasp genera to exploit its mutualism with Ceratosolen wasps.

<i>Apocrypta</i> Genus of wasps

Apocrypta is an Old World genus of parasitic fig wasps in the family Pteromalidae. They are parasitoids of gall-wasps in the Sycophagini tribe, and especially Ceratosolen species, pollinators of the Sycomorus, Sycocarpus and Neomorphe sections of Ficus. They seem to be fig species-specific.

<i>Sycomacophila</i> Genus of wasps

Sycomacophila is an Afrotropical genus of gall wasps that live on the monoecious fig subgenus, Sycomorus.

<i>Ficus cordata</i> Species of plant in the family Moraceae

Ficus cordata, the Namaqua rock fig, or Namaqua fig is a species of fig that occurs in two disjunct populations in Africa, one in the arid southwest of the continent, and a second in the northern subtropics. In the south it is often the largest and most prominent tree, and is virtually restricted to cliff faces and rock outcrops, where it has a rock-splitting habit.

<i>Ficus abutilifolia</i> African fig species known as the large-leaved rock fig

Ficus abutilifolia, the large-leaved rock fig, is a species of African rock-splitting fig that occurs in two disjunct regions, one population north, and another south of the equator. The two populations are pollinated by different fig wasps, and are morphologically distinct. It is named for the similarity of its broadly ovate leaves to that of Abutilon. It is virtually restricted to cliff faces and rock outcrops, and is easily recognized from its large, glabrous leaves and smooth, pale bark.

<i>Ficus cyathistipula</i> Tropical African fig tree

''Ficus cyathistipula'', the African fig tree, is a species of fig that is native to the tropical forest regions of Africa. They may be small trees, shrubs or hemi-epiphytic lianas, and are widespread in the moist tropics, where they may be found in Afromontane or rainforest, often overhanging pools. The figs are reddish when ripe, and have thick, spongy walls that enable them to float on water. They are named for their cup-shaped (cyathus-) and persistent stipules (stipula).

Ceratosolen solmsi is a species of fig wasps in the family Agaonidae. It has Ficus hispida as its host, where it is parasitized by the other fig wasp Apocrypta bakeri. Wasp larvae develop and hatch into mature wasps entirely within the body of the fig. Female wasps that develop in the center rather than the periphery of the fig have more mating opportunities, produce more offspring, and produce more female relative to male offspring.

Wiebesia is a genus in the family Agaonidae. The scientific name of this genus was first published in 1988 by Boucek.

Wiebesia pumilae is a fig wasp species in Genus Wiebesia, Family Agaonidae. W. pumilae is the pollinator of Ficus pumila var. awkeotsang and Ficus pumila var. pumila. The scientific name was first published as Blastophaga pumilae in 1967 by Hill.

<i>Platyscapa soraria</i> Species of wasp

Platyscapa soraria is a species of fig wasp; it is the pollinator of Ficus ingens.

References

  1. Weiblen, George D. (September 2000). "Phylogenetic relationships of functionally dioecious FICUS (Moraceae) based on ribosomal DNA sequences and morphology". American Journal of Botany. 87 (9): 1342–1357. doi: 10.2307/2656726 . JSTOR   2656726. PMID   10991904.
  2. Zhen, Wen-Quan; Huang, Da-Wei; Xiao, Jin-Hua; Yang, Da-Rong; Zhu, Chao-Dong; Xiao, Hui (April 2005). "Ovipositor length of three Apocrypta species: Effect on oviposition behavior and correlation with syconial thickness" (PDF). Phytoparasitica. 33 (2): 113–120. doi:10.1007/BF03029967. S2CID   35479915 . Retrieved 5 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Van Noort; et al. "Ceratosolen Mayr". Figweb. iziko museums. Archived from the original on 14 July 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  4. Van Noort; et al. "Fig tree classification". Figweb. iziko museums. Archived from the original on 27 September 2015. Retrieved 12 October 2015.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Harrison, Rhett D.; et al. (5 June 2012). "Evolution of Fruit Traits in Ficus Subgenus Sycomorus (Moraceae): To What Extent Do Frugivores Determine Seed Dispersal Mode?". PLOS ONE. 7 (6): e38432. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0038432 . PMC   3367955 . PMID   22679505.
  6. Armstrong, W.P. "Gall flowers in figs: Does The Fig Wasp Really Produce A Gall?". Wayne's Word. Archived from the original on 16 March 2014. Retrieved 9 July 2014.
  7. Van Noort, Simon; Van Harten, Antonius (2006-12-18). "The species richness of fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Chalcidoidea: Agaonidae, Pteromalidae) in Yemen". Fauna of Arabia (22): 449–472. Retrieved 1 January 2013.