Pleistodontes froggatti

Taxobox
name = "Pleistodontes froggatti"


image_width = 200px
image_caption = "Pleistodontes froggatti"
regnum = Animalia
phylum = Arthropoda
classis = Insecta
ordo = Hymenoptera
subordo = Apocrita
superfamilia = Chalcidoidea
familia = Agaonidae
subfamilia = Agaoninae
genus = "Pleistodontes"
species = "P. froggatti"
binomial = "Pleistodontes froggatti"
binomial_authority = Mayr
synonyms = "Pleistodontes semirucifeps" Girault "Pleistodontes listzi" Girault "Pleistodontes mayri" Giraultcite journal | quotes = no | last = Lopez-Vaamonde | first = Carlos | coauthors = Dale J. Dixon, James M. Cook, Jean-Yves Rasplus | year = 2002 | title = Revision of the Australian species of "Pleistodontes" (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) fig-pollinating wasps and their host-plant associations | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 136 | issue = 4 | pages = 637–83 | doi = 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00040.x | url = http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/118944298/abstract ]

"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)Starr F, Starr K, and Loope L. [http://www.hear.org/starr/hiplants/reports/pdf/ficus_macrophylla.pdf "Ficus macrophylla - Moreton bay fig - Moraceae"] United States Geological Survey--Biological Resources Division Haleakala Field Station, Maui, Hawai'i, 2003.] and New Zealand where it was either accidentally introduced or arrived by long-distance dispersal.cite journal | quotes = no | last = Gardner | first = Rhys O. | coauthors = John W. Early | year = 1996 | title = The naturalisation of banyan figs ("Ficus" spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) in New Zealand | journal = New Zealand Journal of Botany | volume = 34 | pages = 103–10 | url = http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/115.php ]

Description

"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 (0.06 in) in length, with yellow and orange bodies.

Taxonomy

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.

Reproduction

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".

Distribution

"Ficus macrophylla" is native to southeast Queensland, northeast 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.

The Maui Pineapple Company introduced "F. macrophylla" to its lands in the 1920s. "P. froggatti" was introduced to Hawaii in 1921cite journal | quotes = no | last = Evenhuis | first = N. L. | coauthors = L. G. Eldredge | year = 2000 | title = Records of the Hawaii Biological Survey for 1999: Part 2: Notes | journal = Bishop Museum Occasional Papers | volume = 64 | pages = 1–63 | url = http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/op64.pdf ] and has been recorded from the islands of Hawaiokinai, Lānaokinai, Kauaokinai, Ookinaahu and Molokaokinai.cite journal | quotes = no | last = Beardsley | first = John W. | coauthors = William D. Perriera | year = 2000 | title = New Distribution Records for Non-Endemic Hymenoptera (Insecta) in Hawaiokinai | journal = Bishop Museum Occasional Papers | volume = 63 | pages = 21–30 | url = http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/beardsley&perreira00.pdf ] It is also presumed present on Maui, given that "F. macrophylla" is naturalised on the island. It has also been collected in the Midway Atoll.cite journal | quotes = no | last = Beardsley | first = John W. | year = 1999 | title = Hymenoptera from Midway Atoll| journal = Bishop Museum Occasional Papers | volume = 58 | pages = 37–50 | url = http://hbs.bishopmuseum.org/pdf/beardsley99.pdf ]

"Pleistodontes froggatti" was first recorded in New Zealand in 1993, a 3,000-km (1,900 mile) journey from its nearest range in Australia. Adult female wasps usually live 2–3 days; there are, on average, 21 days over the course of a year during which it would be possible for make the trip in 1–3 days on air currents. In addition, a female wasp could hitch a ride on an aircraft. After establishing in New Zealand, "P. froggatti" spread rapidly, making use of widely planted populations of Moreton Bay figs. The arrival of the wasp led to prolific production of fruits containing many small seeds adapted for dispersal by birds.

References