''Pleistodontes macrocainus'' is a species of
fig wasp
Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside fig syconia. Some are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, ...
which is native to
Australia
Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
. It is associated with ''
Ficus cerasicarpa'' and ''
F. brachypoda''.
Description
Female ''P. macrocainus'' wasps are long, while males are long.
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Taxonomy
''Pleistodontes macrocainus'' was described by Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde, Dale Dixon, James M. Cook and Jean-Yves Rasplus in 2002 based on specimens collected from ''Ficus cerasicarpa''. Since they could not discern any consistent differences between the wasps collected from ''F. cerasicarpa'' and ''F. brachypoda'', they concluded that both figs are pollinated by the same species of fig wasp.[
]
References
Agaonidae
Hymenoptera of Australia
Insects described in 2002
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