Fig wasps of Philippine Ficus microcarpa L.: diversity and trophic structure in urban setting
2015
Rodriguez, B.F.P., Jr. | Gonzales, R.S. | Rodriguez, L.J.V.
Fig trees are important elements of tropical forests, but some species can become invasive. This is the case with Ficus microcarpa, which is native to the Philippine but invasive in some parts of the world. The fig wasp community of F. microcarpa in the Philippines can be used as a means of curbing this invasiveness and we aimed to describe this community. In the University of the Philippines Diliman campus, the wasp community was composed of three fig wasp species: the pollinator Eupristina verticillita and two non-pollinator species: a non-primary galler, Sycoryctes moneres and a seed predator, Philotrypesis taiwanensis. Using sticky traps, we showed that F. microcarpa figs are receptive to pollinators for only 1-2 d. The non-pollinating S. moneres and P. taiwanensis wasps arrived 7-10 d after the peak arrival of pollinators. This is the first documentation of the arrival time of a fig wasp seed predator. Through wasp introduction experiments, we were also able to characterize the trophic structure of this community. Nonetheless, the presence of S. moneres did not lead to a significant decrease in pollinator numbers. Introduction of this species to sites with invasive F. microcarpa trees may therefore not be an effective biocontol method.
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