We eat them too!: Why do wasps have to die for this fruit?

Unlike apple, peach or cherry trees, the fig tree has no visible flowers that will later develop into fruit. In China, fig is called “fruit without flowers”. But this explanation is only partially true. Because what we call figs are countless inward-looking flowers surrounded by a cover.

These flowers are well protected and difficult to pollinate by insects. For this reason, a process that is rare in the plant world occurs in figs: Females of the fig wasp, a special type of wasp, crawl into the interior of the figs through small openings. They lay their eggs there and fertilize the flowers with pollen.

The opening inside the fig is small. When the female fig wasp enters the fig, it loses its wings and cannot exit the fig. They die inside and are slowly broken down by enzymes.

Wasp waste products are eaten

When we eat a ripe fig, we consume these breakdown products. The majority of vegetarians do not see any problem in consuming figs. Renato Pichler, founder and chief executive of Swissveg, a group advocating for vegetarian and vegan people in Switzerland, says: “Animal decomposition products are unavoidable and a very low level of contamination.” Dried figs usually have hard parts, but these are fig seeds and not crunchy insect remains.

In addition, some specially grown fig varieties can self-pollinate and no longer depend on fig wasps. These include varieties such as “Brown Turkey”, “Dalmatian”, “Desert King”, “Firoma”, “Negronne” and “Rouge de Bordeaux”. They are guaranteed vegetarian. These varieties are rarely found in supermarkets, but they are becoming increasingly popular when grown at home.