Fig Wasps matter most.
I cannot believe we just got back from our last excursion, where has time gone!
Barry Davies likes to be referred to as a millipede wrangler, on a more professional side, a naturalist alongside being an amazing tour guide. He spent the last 3 or so days educating us about Lamington National Park.
Lamington National Park is considered one of the most capacious subtropical rainforests in the world, according to Davies. It houses over 160 species of birds, reptiles, mammals and invertebrates. It is located on the Lamington Plateau, bordering New South Wales and Queensland. In 1911, Romeo Lahey formed it into a national park as he thought of it as “glorious” as mentioned in one of his found diaries. I’d have to agree with him on that.
While hiking, Davies discussed the characteristics that make up a rainforest like Lamington: a dense canopy, epiphytes, woody vines, and buttress roots. Davies prominently related buttress roots to strangler fig trees, as fig trees are huge resource to a rainforest.
Figs trees originate as epiphytes when species such as birds or flying foxes deposit their seeds atop the other trees. The roots grow downwards as their trunk grows upwards. Because fig trees are asynchronized, meaning they are not synchronized to a season or each other, food is available all year long to various species.
The flowers of the figs, that are not visible or easily accessible, are only pollinated by tiny fig wasps. First, a female wasp enters an unripe fig and lays her eggs in the female flowers.
Soon, the eggs become wasp larvae and feed on the ripening fig. Then the larvae’s transform into adult wasps, the female has wings and the male does not. They then mate and this is when the female collects the pollination from the male flower. The male allows the female to leave the fig in order to repeat the process, while he simply dies.
With that being said, the figs trees are completely dependent on a small wasp as most of the forest is dependent on fig trees, therefore a whole rainforest is really relying on a small wasp. What a complex relationship, yet quite beautiful.
Something so small can make huge difference and provide life to many others. Something so small has great power and it goes quite unnoticed. Before this discussion with Davies, fig wasps had never crossed my mind. Just like wasps, humans can make a difference too. In this huge galaxy, there can be times where you feel so small; I’ve felt that. But this made me realize we all have a purpose despite our size in this world, and we can make a change. After all, the little things are always the ones that matter most and the tiny wasps prove that. It’s just incredible to think of this process, some people may be disgusted by it but to me, it’s magical. It also shows how a rainforest is such a vulnerable ecosystem. What will happen if something so minuscule goes endangered? Climate change is usually affecting things negatively but for these wasps, warmer temperature is actually a good thing. Odd to think, isn’t it? According to Davies, it is uncertain what will occur to the wasps in the long-term but for now they are in a safe position regarding climate change.
