The shocking (and stomach-churning) secret inside EVERY fig

a reply to: PhoenixOD

That's pretty fascinating! I had no idea. S&F. Now I'm a little grossed out, but it's nature in action. I know how cheese is made, hot dogs too, but those things don't gross me out. Weird that.

I'll still eat fig newtons though. Love those.

a reply to: ChiefD

Thanks ChiefD, i love a fig newton as well

And I seem to remember reading somewhere that shrimp, crab, and lobster are really insects, started out as insects on land millions of years ago, then went to the sea and became very yummy sea insects.

I'm craving crab right now, insect or not.

I have not read this thread at all, I'm afraid if I do I will be disgusted out of eating a fig newton, which I love. But in all honesty, after only reading the title of the thread, I'm quite curious. I'm torn if I should read it or not. Whether my love of fig newtons outweigh my curiosity about this topic is yet to be determined.

a reply to: C84K2

Read away!

BLUF [Bottom line up front]: Not all figs require the wasps, but all figs are receptive to wasps. It is really quite captivating.

But... Those wasps don't exist in my country, yet we still have figs growing here.

I'm confused.

originally posted by: TRiPWiRE
But... Those wasps don't exist in my country, yet we still have figs growing here.

I'm confused.

Some figs don't need them. But there are a LOT of fig wasp species. Anywhere you have a producing fig, it's immensely likely you have the wasp for that fig species.

a reply to: PhoenixOD

More protein.. Should be happy it came with a wasp.

a reply to: PhoenixOD

I have always loved figs, we had many fig tree's around when I was a kid but for some reason (even though I loved them) I always had a odd instinctive feeling of caution when I ate one, now I know why! I HATE WASP!!!
Never again!

originally posted by: Staroth
a reply to: PhoenixOD

I have always loved figs, we had many fig tree's around when I was a kid but for some reason (even though I loved them) I always had a odd instinctive feeling of caution when I ate one, now I know why! I HATE WASP!!!
Never again!

It isn't a paper wasp. Looks like a small sweat bee.

Thanks for ruining one of my favourite biscuits

originally posted by: ChiefD
And I seem to remember reading somewhere that shrimp, crab, and lobster are really insects, started out as insects on land millions of years ago, then went to the sea and became very yummy sea insects.

I'm craving crab right now, insect or not.

Yes they are insects. Lobsters are giant head lice and crabs are well... Crabs.

I wonder if the claimed anti-cancer properties are from the wasp venom ?

Should add. These wasps are very small.....Not the kind that sting you . So yes it could be digested very quickly.

i think i might have had one or two figs in my life but this still made me throw up a little thinking about it

originally posted by: JourneymanWelder
i think i might have had one or two figs in my life but this still made me throw up a little thinking about it

Start looking at your red tinted foods. Anything with carmine or cochineal is colored with bug shells.

a reply to: TRiPWiRE

Apparently there are 900 species of wasps that can pollinate figs. But even if you dont have any of them there are a few varieties of figs that can grow without the wasps. Its just they will not be as nice as the pollinated ones.

originally posted by: Bedlam

originally posted by: JourneymanWelder
i think i might have had one or two figs in my life but this still made me throw up a little thinking about it

Start looking at your red tinted foods. Anything with carmine or cochineal is colored with bug shells.

yeah most candy contains some really strange animal and insect parts. lol

a reply to: PhoenixOD

Truth is a good thing so ask a fig grower or a botanist and you know Deny .......

The self pollinating tree does not even release the chemicals that calls the wasp to it only the trees that need the wasp does that.


As another poster told you some places the figs are raised do not even have wasps.

They produce sweet fig fruits without the need for male trees that carry symbiotic fig wasps within their syconia. This is very advantageous to farmers in regions where the wild caprifigs and natural pollinator wasps do not occur.

A common concern among humans is whether we eat fig wasps when we consume figs. The short answer is yes for dried figs and usually no for fresh figs.
www.figweb.org...
askabiologist.asu.edu...

a reply to: PhoenixOD

Thanks for the video. My Sicilian dad grows figs in MA (difficult climate to grow them in). And his fig trees are coveted by everyone who sees them. I'm pretty sure I've seen these exact little buggers on his figs. I know when I confront him with this information he will pretend I'm crazy but I am sure he knows as he was a farmer who went to agricultural school in Sicily. Now I don't know if I can ever bring myself to eat them again. Rationally, I think it is no big deal but I doubt I will want any this year.