Short Stuff: Figs & Wasps | STUFF YOU SHOULD KNOW

[Music]. Hey and welcome to the short stuff. I'm. Josh and there's Chuck and Jerry's here. too sitting in for Dave. So this is. short stuff. Yeah. I'm This is an. episode where I was very surprised and I. even went back that when we did our. episode on wasps. Mhm. We even got. emails about this. So I'm pretty sure we. did not cover it. Yeah. Uh but we're. talking about fig wasps uh of the fig. tree specifically. uh not the kind that you see like almost. all fig tree varieties are not ones that.

you eat the fruit of. Um that's a very. specific one. Uh the ones like you have. out in your yard. Uh they develop. without pollination which means they're. uh parthonocarpic. But the ones that. where you eat the figs they are grown. commercially mainly in California here. in the United States. They are calamra. figs and they are imported from Turkey. And the ficcus uh cara or the fig wasp. is also imported from Turkey because. they have a very special relationship.

Yeah. Um so fig wasps and that specific. kind of fig apparently um co-evolved. over the last 60 million years to form a. mutually symbiotic relationship. Um as. our friend Connor from uh Love on the. Spectrum would say. um where the fig. wasp depends on the fig for its. reproductive cycle. The fig depends on. the fig wasp for its reproductive cycle. If you didn't have one or the other, the. other one would not exist. Yeah,

totally. Uh and we're going to tell you. how that happens right now. I was going. to say right after this, but that'd be. way too soon for Uh the first thing we. need to say is that the fig, the thing. that you're eating, uh it's something. within a larger um structure and it's. called a sacconium is what you're. actually eating. Uh it's sort of like a. inverted flower. It's not really a fruit. necessarily. No. And what happens is. these Calamna farmers in California.

uh they have female trees that are going. to produce that uh edible version of the. sinconia and they have male trees that. produce uh an inedible version called a. gallig and if they want to pollinate. those a wasp has to crawl into that. sinconium uh a female wasp she loses her. wings on the way because she has a. squeeze through a tight little passage. and it's a one-way trip which is very. sad. and you end up eating that female wasp. Uh she's broken down by something called.

fiscine. It's a protein digesting. enzyme. So when you eat a fig, uh there. is a little bit of female wasp inside of. that thing, just broken down and. becoming part of that edible fig. Yeah. But essentially, you're not going to be. able to detect it on your tongue. Some. people think that the little tiny seeds. inside of a fig are wasp parts because. there's been such a a legend that. developed about like fig wasps. And it. is true to some degree, but for the most. part, no. You're not detecting a fig. wasp's like body or exoskeleton when.

you're eating a fig. You are eating part. of a wasp, though. Like, don't make no. mistake. For sure. Uh, and I mentioned. it was a one-way trip. It's it's fairly. sad that that happens, but uh it's all. in good service of that mutual. arrangement. Um, before that happens, this female wasp is going to come out of. an inedible uh male fig. Uh, I guess I'm. going to call it a fruit. Uh, because. she was born there and she has mated by. that point with a blind wingless male. wasp who never leaves that male fig. So,

she exits that inedible male fig. She. picks up some pollen. She's got all. these eggs and at that point she can. either go to a male fig tree or a female. fig tree, but if she lands on that. female fig tree, her ovapositor is too. short to reach into this uh really, you. know, longstyled female flower. So she. can't lay those eggs in there. She does. end up pollinating it, but she. sacrifices her life in doing so. Yeah. She makes it all the way to the. sinconium and finds like I've literally.

just wasted my life. But her life is not. a waste because if she didn't. accidentally uh enter a female fig um. whereas she was trying to reproduce or. lay her eggs in a male fig, then the. figs would not get pollinated. So figs. get pollinated because fig wasps. sometimes make mistakes when choosing a. male or a female fig to burrow into and. lay their eggs. I find that amazing. Yeah, it it's pretty great. Like it it. works both ways. Uh if she goes into. that male fig, then she's going to.

deposit those fertilized eggs and that. circle just kind of keeps going on and. on. Um farmers separate these trees out. to try and keep them from doing that. I. protest that. I'm protesting. Oh, you're. protesting them doing that. I protest. that there are male and female fig. trees. I've seen that they're. self-pollinating and hermaphroditic, including the ones that you eat. So, I'm. going on record of saying that. Well, you're wrong, my friend. Uh cuz this. farmer that was interviewed said that. they separate those male and female. trees. I don't think he's just making.

that up to aggravate you. What if he's. completely off his rocker? I mean, are. all the farmers and all the sources. completely off their rocker? So, I think this is just one of those. times where we're going to have to agree. to disagree. Do you agree? Uh, sure. That's very agreeable. All right, we'll. be back right after this. [Music].

So, a few things that we can remember is. uh that the female wasp dies inside that. edible fig. And there have been people. like vegans that there are vegans, I say. there have been, there are literally. vegans who won't eat that. Um, but it's. there are bugs in almost every fruit.

that you eat. Uh, there are levels of. bug um, I was about to say infestation, but just bug activity that's acceptable. for the USDA. Uh, tomato ketchup. Apparently, it has the highest USDA. grade standard possible. And it can have. uh, no more than 30 fruitly eggs per. every 100 grams of ketchup. How? Like. surely I guess there's some quality. control where they take some like a 100. ounces or 100 grams of ketchup and count. the fruitfly eggs in it, right? I don't.

know how they do that. And if that is. like if they find 31 or even 100, that. doesn't necessarily mean that the next. bottle is going to have the same amount. because I mean we're talking fruitfly. eggs, right? From all sorts of different. tomatoes in each bottle. It Yeah. It it. boggles my mind. I don't know how they. do this. No. Or how they enforce it, I. guess, is what I mean. Yeah, I bet. someone or it might be one of those. things where like no one's even paying. attention to this, right? The vegans are. vegans are watching you. Yes, they're.

always watching. Uh I did mention though. that the farmers try and control the, you know, the separating those trees out. to control because it can be a problem. if there are too many um seeds. That. fruit can burst open and all of a sudden. it's not, you know, it's good for the. plant, but it's not good to harvest for. the farmer. So, they're trying to sell. these things. So they separate those. trees out over some pretty great. distances and also control the number of. new wasp they bring in. They're like. they're wasp wranglers as well as. farmers and they get these things. delivered to their house to their farm.

in paper sacks and they can pretty much. control exactly how many females have. access to the correct plant. Yeah. And. those paper sacks also usually include a. tiny cowboy hat and a tiny lasso. And then just one one more time to just. kind of go over this again just to calm. anybody's fears. You probably are eating. some insects. So vegans, you're right. If you don't want to eat insects, you. probably should steer clear of figs. But. the fig is designed to digest the female. wasp that dies inside of it and um.

breaks it down for nutrients for itself. So just don't worry about eating wasps. I don't know why everybody's so worried. about eating wasps, Chuck. Yeah, I mean. it it it is fig at that point. that wasp. becomes fig, right? In fact, that's a. great t-shirt. Wasp becomes fig. I agree. wholeheartedly. Uh, well, since we came. up with a t-shirt, obviously everybody, that means short stuff is out. Stuff you should know is a production of. iHeart Radio. For more podcasts, iHeart.

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