The question of whether figs contain insects is common, stemming from a unique biological arrangement that distinguishes the fig from most other edible plants. The fig is an intricate, self-contained structure that has co-evolved with a specific insect species. This relationship is an example of mutualism, where the survival of the fig tree is directly linked to the life cycle of a tiny, specialized wasp. Understanding this partnership requires understanding the botany and entomology at play.
The Essential Partnership: Figs and the Fig Wasp
The existence of most figs depends on the fig wasp, as part of an obligate mutualism. This relationship dictates that the wasp needs the fig to lay its eggs and the fig needs the wasp to transfer pollen and reproduce. Each of the hundreds of fig species has co-evolved with its own unique, species-specific pollinator wasp, which is often less than two millimeters in length.
The life cycle begins when a pregnant female fig wasp enters an immature fig to deposit her eggs and, in the process, pollinate the enclosed flowers. She carries pollen from the fig where she was born, ensuring the fig’s fertilization. This exchange is the fundamental agreement of the partnership: the fig provides a safe nursery for the wasp’s young, and the wasp ensures the fig produces seeds. The female wasp’s entry is a one-way journey, marking the end of her adult life within the fig.
The Unique Structure of the Fig
Botanically, the fig is not a fruit but a syconium, a fleshy, hollow structure that is an inverted cluster of flowers. The hundreds of minute, individual flowers line the interior wall of the syconium, completely hidden from the outside world.
Because the flowers are hidden, wind or generalist insects cannot access them for pollination. The only opening to the syconium is a small pore called the ostiole, which is sealed by overlapping scales. The fig wasp is the only insect specialized enough to navigate this tight entrance and reach the internal flowers. Once inside, the wasp’s actions allow the fig to ripen, a process that would otherwise not occur.
The syconium contains two types of female flowers: those with short styles and those with long styles. The female wasp inserts her ovipositor into the short-styled flowers to lay her eggs, creating a gall where her offspring develop. However, the long-styled flowers are physically too deep for the wasp’s ovipositor to reach the ovary, preventing her from laying an egg but still allowing her to deposit pollen for fertilization.
The Fate of the Pollinator Inside the Fig
The female fig wasp that enters a receptive fig to lay her eggs is unable to exit, often because she loses her wings and antennae while squeezing through the narrow ostiole. After successfully depositing her eggs and transferring pollen, the wasp dies inside the fig’s cavity. The fig then initiates an internal biological process to break down the insect’s body.
The fig contains a group of proteolytic enzymes, most notably ficin (a type of cysteine endopeptidase), which digests protein. Ficin works to chemically dissolve the wasp’s exoskeleton and soft tissue. This enzymatic breakdown efficiently recycles the wasp’s body, incorporating the nitrogen-rich nutrients into the developing fig structure.
By the time the fig ripens, the female wasp’s body has been almost completely dissolved and absorbed. The “crunchy bits” often perceived in a fig are not insect remnants but the tiny, fertilized seeds that developed from the long-styled flowers. The efficiency of the ficin enzyme ensures that no intact insect body remains in a mature, wasp-pollinated fig.
Are Store-Bought Figs Different?
The vast majority of figs sold in grocery stores are varieties that do not rely on the fig wasp for development. Many commercially cultivated figs, such as the widely available Black Mission, Brown Turkey, and Celeste, are parthenocarpic. This means they are bred to produce edible fruit without the need for pollination or fertilization.
These self-pollinating figs develop their flesh and ripen fully without any input from a fig wasp. Consequently, these figs do not have an insect die inside them. Even in varieties that do require wasp pollination, like the Calimyrna fig, the ficin enzyme ensures that the wasp is broken down long before the fruit reaches the market.
Commercially grown figs are subject to strict food safety standards, which include permissible levels of natural defects and foreign matter. The presence of an intact insect in a ripe fig is exceptionally rare. For the most common store-bought varieties, the question of a dead wasp inside is completely irrelevant.