When Colin Purrington looked at a sample of dried figs under a microscope recently, he answered a question that had been bugging him for years. Inside the chewy fruits, he found the shriveled remains ...

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 ...

Philadelphia — When Colin Purrington looked at a sample of dried figs under a microscope recently, he answered a question that had been bugging him for years. Inside the chewy fruits, he found the ...

A Brazilian researcher describes 129 species of fig tree parasites which compete and even prey upon the fig wasps during the many phases of the fig-wasp mutualism that helped to shape both plant and ...

University of Maryland Biology Professor Carlos Machado studies the extraordinary partnership between figs and their tiny pollinators—and what happens when some evolutionary partners turn into ...

Insect pollination is vital for many fruits and food crops. From apples and berries to almonds, bees and other pollinators help fertilise flowers, ensuring fruit development, better yields and ...

If you've ever bitten into a fresh fig, you've tasted the delicious result of one of nature's most extraordinary and longstanding partnerships. But the figs in your local grocery store only tell a ...