Fresh figs are irresistible from late summer through early fall, when trees droop from the weight of these luscious, caramelly fruits. Nothing stands between fig lovers and this bounty, except … wasps ...

Are there really dead wasps in figs? You’ve likely heard the rumors, and it turns out that it’s (sometimes) true. Sure, it sounds kind of gross and a little sad. But when you find out about the whole ...

Researchers from Uppsala University and elsewhere have been studying the effect of rising temperatures on the lifespan of pollinating fig wasps. The findings show that the wasps lived much shorter ...

The life of the fig wasp is nature at its worst—from our human perspective, anyway. In order to lay their eggs, female fig ...

The story of the fig and the wasp goes back as many years as man has grown fig trees, because fig wasps are the only pollinators for several species of fig trees. It is said that they co-evolved. This ...

You might not know this, but most figs have dead wasps in them at some point. That’s right. Wasps. And if that surprises you, then hold onto your hat: Scientists have found out how another species of ...

The wasp usually struggles to get in, often losing its wings as it goes. Once the wasp breaches the fruit, the U.S. Forest Service describes, “It runs around the interior of the fruit visiting many ...

"Hearst Magazines and Yahoo may earn commission or revenue on some items through these links." You’ve probably heard rumors about figs being filled with dead wasps. That's only sort of true. It is ...

The first time I ate a fig I was about 40 years old. I was with my husband, Sam, and we rented a cottage on a California vineyard in Sepastopol. One day we were in the hot tub on the deck and we ...

It takes a special kind of insect to pollinate an inside-out flower, which is exactly what the wasps that pollinate figs do. Crawling inside the firm swelling lined with microscopic flowers that will ...

Textbooks that marvel over an extreme example of the buddy system–fig species that supposedly each pair up with a lone pollinating wasp species–may need rewriting, according to a new genetic analysis.

Depicted here are some of the many varieties of figs that do not have the specialized pollination needs of Smyrna figs, so can be grown over a much wider range. From left, top row, are Celeste, San ...