Pleistodontes froggatti
| Pleistodontes froggatti | |
|---|---|
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| Pleistodontes froggatti | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Agaonidae |
| Subfamily: | Agaoninae |
| Genus: | Pleistodontes |
| Species: | P. froggatti |
| Binomial name | |
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Pleistodontes froggatti Mayr, 1906 |
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| Synonyms | |
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Pleistodontes semirucifeps Girault |
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Pleistodontes semirucifeps Girault
Pleistodontes listzi Girault
Pleistodontes mayri Girault
Pleistodontes froggatti is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla, the species it pollinates. Outside of Australia, populations have become established in Hawaii (where it was deliberately introduced) and New Zealand where it was either accidentally introduced or arrived by long-distance dispersal.
Pleistodontes frogatti is a small wasp. Females are 3.0–3.4 mm (0.12–0.13 in) long with black, brown and reddish brown bodies. Males are 1.5 mm (0.059 in) in length, with yellow and orange bodies.
The specific epithet, froggatti, is in honour of Australian entomologist W. W. Froggatt. The first account of the species' biology was written by Froggatt in 1901, who imperfectly identified it as Pleistodontes imperialis. Austrian entomologist Gustav Mayr re-described the species in 1906 and named it in honour of Froggatt.
Figs have an obligate mutualism with fig wasps, (Agaonidae); figs are only pollinated by fig wasps, and fig wasps can only reproduce in fig flowers. Pleistodontes frogatti can only reproduce in the syconia of its host species, the Moreton Bay Fig, Ficus macrophylla.
Ficus macrophylla is native to southeast Queensland, eastern New South Wales and Lord Howe Island, and has been planted widely across the world. Pleistodontes froggatti has been found across most of the range of its host tree in Australia. It also occurs in New Zealand and Hawaii.
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