1 00:00:04,080 --> 00:00:06,120 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the Short Stuff. I'm Josh, and 2 00:00:06,160 --> 00:00:08,479 Speaker 1: there's Chuck and Jerry's here too, sitting in for Dave. 3 00:00:08,560 --> 00:00:09,639 Speaker 1: So this is short Stuff. 4 00:00:10,520 --> 00:00:13,160 Speaker 2: Yeah, this is an episode where I was very surprised, 5 00:00:13,160 --> 00:00:14,840 Speaker 2: and I even went back that when we did our 6 00:00:14,880 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 2: episode on wasps, we even got emails about this, so 7 00:00:18,000 --> 00:00:19,599 Speaker 2: I'm pretty sure we did not cover it. 8 00:00:19,920 --> 00:00:21,200 Speaker 3: Yeah, but we're talking. 9 00:00:21,000 --> 00:00:26,800 Speaker 2: About fig wasps of the fig tree specifically, not the 10 00:00:26,880 --> 00:00:30,440 Speaker 2: kind that you see. Almost all fig tree varieties are 11 00:00:30,480 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 2: not ones that you eat the fruit of. That's a 12 00:00:33,159 --> 00:00:35,760 Speaker 2: very specific one. The ones like you have out in 13 00:00:35,840 --> 00:00:41,160 Speaker 2: your yard. They develop without pollination, which means they're parthenocarpic. 14 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:43,760 Speaker 2: But the ones that where you eat the figs, they 15 00:00:43,760 --> 00:00:46,800 Speaker 2: are grown commercially, mainly in California here in the United States. 16 00:00:47,159 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 2: They are Calimerna figs, and they are imported from Turkey, 17 00:00:52,040 --> 00:00:56,120 Speaker 2: and the Ficus carica, or the fig wasp, is also 18 00:00:56,320 --> 00:00:59,800 Speaker 2: imported from Turkey because they have a very special relationship. 19 00:01:00,560 --> 00:01:04,200 Speaker 1: Yeah, so fig wasps and that specific kind of fig 20 00:01:04,240 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: apparently co evolved over the last sixty million years to 21 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:14,160 Speaker 1: form a mutually symbiotic relationship. As our friend Connor from 22 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:18,679 Speaker 1: Love on the spectrum would say, where the fig wasp 23 00:01:19,120 --> 00:01:23,559 Speaker 1: depends on the fig for its reproductive cycle, the fig 24 00:01:23,680 --> 00:01:27,039 Speaker 1: depends on the fig wasp for its reproductive cycle. And 25 00:01:27,040 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: if you didn't have one or the other, the other 26 00:01:29,680 --> 00:01:30,680 Speaker 1: one would not exist. 27 00:01:31,560 --> 00:01:34,120 Speaker 2: Yeah, totally, And we're going to tell you how that 28 00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 2: happens right now. I was gonna say right for this, 29 00:01:37,160 --> 00:01:39,360 Speaker 2: but that'd be way too soon for the first thing 30 00:01:39,400 --> 00:01:41,119 Speaker 2: we need to say is that the fig, the thing 31 00:01:41,160 --> 00:01:46,200 Speaker 2: that you're eating, it's something within a larger structure, and 32 00:01:46,280 --> 00:01:50,240 Speaker 2: it's called a seconium, is what you're actually eating. It's 33 00:01:50,240 --> 00:01:53,600 Speaker 2: sort of like an inverted flower. It's not really a 34 00:01:53,640 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 2: fruit necessarily, No. And what happens is these Calimurna farmers 35 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:03,000 Speaker 2: in California, they have female trees that are going to 36 00:02:03,040 --> 00:02:06,200 Speaker 2: produce that edible version of the sinconia, and they have 37 00:02:06,240 --> 00:02:10,720 Speaker 2: male trees that produce an inedible version called a golf fig. 38 00:02:11,520 --> 00:02:14,160 Speaker 2: And if they want to pollinate those, a wasp has 39 00:02:14,240 --> 00:02:19,040 Speaker 2: to crawl into that sinconium, a female wasp. She loses 40 00:02:19,080 --> 00:02:20,640 Speaker 2: her wings on the way because she has a squeeze 41 00:02:20,639 --> 00:02:23,280 Speaker 2: through a tight little passage. It's a one way trip, 42 00:02:23,280 --> 00:02:27,400 Speaker 2: which is very sad, and you end up eating that 43 00:02:27,560 --> 00:02:30,840 Speaker 2: female wasp. She's broken down by something called physine. It's 44 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 2: a protein digesting enzyme. 45 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:33,520 Speaker 3: So when you. 46 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:36,480 Speaker 2: Eat a fig, there is a little bit of female 47 00:02:36,520 --> 00:02:39,320 Speaker 2: wasp inside of that thing, just broken down and becoming 48 00:02:39,320 --> 00:02:40,440 Speaker 2: part of that edible fig. 49 00:02:40,880 --> 00:02:42,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, but essentially you're not going to be able to 50 00:02:42,919 --> 00:02:44,800 Speaker 1: detect it on your tongue. Some people think that the 51 00:02:44,840 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: little tiny seeds inside of a fig are wasp parts 52 00:02:48,560 --> 00:02:52,080 Speaker 1: because there's been such a legend that developed about like 53 00:02:52,200 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: fig wasps, and it is true to some degree, but 54 00:02:55,400 --> 00:02:58,360 Speaker 1: for the most part, No, you're not detecting a fig 55 00:02:58,440 --> 00:03:01,760 Speaker 1: wasps like body or exo skeleton. When you're eating a fig. 56 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,960 Speaker 1: You are eating part of a wasp though, Like, don't 57 00:03:05,320 --> 00:03:07,200 Speaker 1: make no mistake for sure. 58 00:03:07,720 --> 00:03:09,280 Speaker 3: And I mentioned it was the one way trips. 59 00:03:09,320 --> 00:03:12,160 Speaker 2: It's fairly sad that that happens, but it's all in 60 00:03:12,240 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 2: good service of that mutual arrangement. Before that happens, this 61 00:03:16,360 --> 00:03:21,240 Speaker 2: female wasp is gonna come out of an inedible male fig. 62 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:24,640 Speaker 2: I guess I'm gonna call it a fruit because she 63 00:03:24,720 --> 00:03:27,120 Speaker 2: was born there and she has mate it by that 64 00:03:27,160 --> 00:03:29,959 Speaker 2: point with a blind, wingless male wasp who never leaves 65 00:03:30,000 --> 00:03:33,880 Speaker 2: that male fig. So she exits that inedible male fig, 66 00:03:34,080 --> 00:03:35,240 Speaker 2: she picks up some pollen. 67 00:03:35,680 --> 00:03:37,520 Speaker 3: She got all these eggs, and at that. 68 00:03:37,520 --> 00:03:40,160 Speaker 2: Point she can either go to a male fig tree 69 00:03:40,240 --> 00:03:42,840 Speaker 2: or a female fig tree. But if she lands on 70 00:03:42,840 --> 00:03:46,080 Speaker 2: that female fig tree, her ovipositor is too short to 71 00:03:46,160 --> 00:03:50,040 Speaker 2: reach into this really you know, long styled female flower, 72 00:03:50,120 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 2: so she can't lay those eggs in there. She does 73 00:03:52,440 --> 00:03:55,440 Speaker 2: end up pollinating it, but she sacrifices her life in 74 00:03:55,520 --> 00:03:55,920 Speaker 2: doing so. 75 00:03:56,280 --> 00:03:58,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, she makes it all the way to the synconium 76 00:03:58,800 --> 00:04:02,200 Speaker 1: and finds like, I literally just wasted my life. But 77 00:04:02,280 --> 00:04:04,400 Speaker 1: her life is not a waste because if she didn't 78 00:04:04,440 --> 00:04:09,520 Speaker 1: accidentally enter a female fig where she was trying to 79 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:11,880 Speaker 1: reproduce or lay her eggs in a male fig, then 80 00:04:12,080 --> 00:04:15,240 Speaker 1: the figs would not get pollinated. So figs get pollinated 81 00:04:15,520 --> 00:04:19,880 Speaker 1: because fig wasps sometimes make mistakes when choosing a male 82 00:04:20,040 --> 00:04:22,920 Speaker 1: or a female fig to burrow into and lay their eggs. 83 00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,120 Speaker 1: I find that amazing. 84 00:04:24,600 --> 00:04:27,920 Speaker 2: Yeah, it's pretty great, Like it works both ways. If 85 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 2: she goes into that male fig, then she's gonna deposit 86 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:34,080 Speaker 2: those fertilized eggs, and that circle just kind of keeps 87 00:04:34,279 --> 00:04:37,520 Speaker 2: going on and on. Farmers separate these trees out to 88 00:04:37,640 --> 00:04:39,000 Speaker 2: try and keep them from doing that. 89 00:04:39,279 --> 00:04:41,960 Speaker 1: I protest that I'm protesting. 90 00:04:41,839 --> 00:04:43,159 Speaker 3: Oh you're protesting them doing that. 91 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:46,559 Speaker 1: I protest that there are male and female fig trees. 92 00:04:46,600 --> 00:04:50,240 Speaker 1: I've seen that they're self pollinating and hermaphroditic, including the 93 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:52,560 Speaker 1: ones that you eat. So I'm going on record as 94 00:04:52,560 --> 00:04:53,159 Speaker 1: saying that. 95 00:04:53,240 --> 00:04:55,960 Speaker 2: Well, you're wrong, my friend, because this farmer that was 96 00:04:55,960 --> 00:04:58,480 Speaker 2: interviewed said that they separate those male and female trees. 97 00:04:59,040 --> 00:05:01,360 Speaker 2: I don't think he's just making that up to aggravate you. 98 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:03,320 Speaker 1: What if he's completely off his rocker. 99 00:05:04,000 --> 00:05:06,799 Speaker 2: I mean, are all the farmers and all the sources 100 00:05:06,839 --> 00:05:07,960 Speaker 2: completely off their rocker? 101 00:05:09,560 --> 00:05:11,479 Speaker 1: So I think this is just one of those times 102 00:05:11,480 --> 00:05:14,800 Speaker 1: where we're gonna have to agree to disagree. Do you agree? 103 00:05:15,520 --> 00:05:15,760 Speaker 3: Uh? 104 00:05:15,960 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: Sure, that's very agreeable. 105 00:05:18,400 --> 00:05:19,880 Speaker 3: All right, we'll be back right after this. 106 00:05:41,960 --> 00:05:45,520 Speaker 2: So a few things that we can remember is that 107 00:05:45,520 --> 00:05:48,920 Speaker 2: the female wasp dies inside that edible fig. And there 108 00:05:48,960 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 2: have been people like vegans that there are vegans and say, 109 00:05:53,240 --> 00:05:55,680 Speaker 2: there have been there are literally vegans who won't eat that. 110 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:00,680 Speaker 2: But it's there are bugs in almost every fruit that 111 00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:05,360 Speaker 2: you eat. There are levels of bug so i'd say infestation, 112 00:06:05,440 --> 00:06:10,640 Speaker 2: but just bug activity. That's acceptable for the USDA Tomato Ketchup. 113 00:06:10,680 --> 00:06:15,039 Speaker 2: Apparently it has the highest USDA grade standard possible and 114 00:06:15,200 --> 00:06:18,080 Speaker 2: it can have no more than thirty fruit. 115 00:06:17,839 --> 00:06:20,440 Speaker 3: Fly eggs for every one hundred grams of ketchup. 116 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:24,160 Speaker 1: Like, surely, I guess there's some quality control where they 117 00:06:24,200 --> 00:06:27,239 Speaker 1: take some like one hundred ounces or one hundred grams 118 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,760 Speaker 1: of ketchup and count the fruitfly eggs in it, right, 119 00:06:32,000 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: I don't know how they do that, and if that 120 00:06:33,800 --> 00:06:35,800 Speaker 1: is they like, if they find thirty one or even 121 00:06:35,839 --> 00:06:38,920 Speaker 1: one hundred, that doesn't necessarily mean that the next bottle 122 00:06:39,000 --> 00:06:40,920 Speaker 1: is going to have the same amount, because I mean 123 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:43,839 Speaker 1: we're talking fruitfly eggs right from all sorts of different 124 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:47,760 Speaker 1: tomatoes in each bottle. Yeah, it boggles my mind. I 125 00:06:47,760 --> 00:06:50,359 Speaker 1: don't know how they do this, no, or how they 126 00:06:50,480 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: enforce it, I guess, is what I mean. 127 00:06:52,160 --> 00:06:53,800 Speaker 2: Yeah, I bet someone or it might be one of 128 00:06:53,800 --> 00:06:56,320 Speaker 2: those things where like no one's even paying attention to. 129 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,279 Speaker 1: This, right the vegans are vegans are watching you? 130 00:07:00,120 --> 00:07:01,159 Speaker 3: Yes, they're always watching. 131 00:07:02,080 --> 00:07:04,159 Speaker 2: I did mention though, that the farmers try and control 132 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:07,080 Speaker 2: the separating those trees out to control because it can 133 00:07:07,120 --> 00:07:10,880 Speaker 2: be a problem if there are too many seeds that 134 00:07:10,880 --> 00:07:12,760 Speaker 2: fruit can burst open and all of a sudden, it's 135 00:07:12,760 --> 00:07:14,560 Speaker 2: not you know, it's good for the plant, but it's 136 00:07:14,640 --> 00:07:17,280 Speaker 2: not good to harvest for the farmers. So they're trying 137 00:07:17,280 --> 00:07:19,920 Speaker 2: to sell these things. So they separate those trees out 138 00:07:19,960 --> 00:07:23,160 Speaker 2: over some pretty great distances and also control the number 139 00:07:23,200 --> 00:07:25,480 Speaker 2: of new wasp that they bring in. They're like, they're 140 00:07:25,560 --> 00:07:28,800 Speaker 2: wasp wranglers as well as farmers, and they get these 141 00:07:28,800 --> 00:07:31,760 Speaker 2: things delivered to their house, to their farm and paper sacks, 142 00:07:32,400 --> 00:07:35,960 Speaker 2: and they can pretty much control exactly how many females 143 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:38,160 Speaker 2: have access to the correct plant. 144 00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:42,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, and those paper sacks also usually include a tiny 145 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:45,320 Speaker 1: cowboy hat and a tiny glat so and then just 146 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,480 Speaker 1: one more time to just kind of go over this again, 147 00:07:47,840 --> 00:07:51,360 Speaker 1: just to calm anybody's fears, you probably are eating some insects, 148 00:07:51,360 --> 00:07:53,320 Speaker 1: so vegans, you're right. If you don't want to eat insects, 149 00:07:53,320 --> 00:07:56,080 Speaker 1: you probably should steer clear of figs. But the fig 150 00:07:56,560 --> 00:08:00,800 Speaker 1: is designed to digest the female wasp that dies inside 151 00:08:00,840 --> 00:08:04,640 Speaker 1: of it and breaks it down for nutrients for itself. 152 00:08:05,480 --> 00:08:07,400 Speaker 1: So just don't worry about eating wasps. I don't know 153 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:11,000 Speaker 1: why everybody's so worried about eating wasps. Chuck, Yeah, I. 154 00:08:11,000 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 3: Mean it is fig. 155 00:08:12,360 --> 00:08:15,720 Speaker 2: At that point that wasp becomes fig. In fact, that's 156 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:17,880 Speaker 2: a great t shirt. Wasp becomes fig. 157 00:08:18,040 --> 00:08:21,400 Speaker 1: I agree wholeheartedly. Well, since we came up with a 158 00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:27,440 Speaker 1: t shirt, obviously everybody that means short stuff is opps. 159 00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,120 Speaker 3: Stuff you should know is a production of iHeartRadio. 160 00:08:30,640 --> 00:08:33,800 Speaker 2: For more podcasts my heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, 161 00:08:34,000 --> 00:08:36,920 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.