Dynamics variation of seeds and fig wasps on Ficus glaberrima in Xishuangbanna, SW China

Zhang, Feng-Ping

SYMBIOSIS

2009

49

2

Yang, DR

Fig wasps associated with Ficus glaberrima were investigated in Xishuangbanna, China. A total of 97 figs from the same sample tree were collected over a period of three years, and 5171 fig wasps were recorded. Our results showed that Eupristina sp. progeny was not correlated with seeds in the three years. D. bizarrea only negatively affected Eupristina sp. and there was no obvious negative effect of D. bizarrea on seeds. The colonization rate of Eupristina sp. in December 2006 (dry season) was highest, while the colonization rate of D. bizarrea in August 2007 (rainy season) was highest. The colonization rates of Eupristina sp. and D. bizarrea were almost equal in December 2006 and July 2008 (rainy season). The number of Eupristina sp. progeny per fig during the colder month (December 2006) was significantly higher than during the warmer month (August 2007; July 2008) (LSD: P < 0.05). There was no significant difference in the number of D. bizarrea progeny during three years. Eupristina sp., D. bizarrea, Sycoscapter sp., and Philotrypesis sp. occurred consistently as the most common fig wasps every year. This result suggested that some fig wasps showed a certain degree of season recurrence or specificity, but that the composition of fig wasps was not conspicuously influenced by the seasonal factor.