spoopy figs
(midwest.social)
fossilesque
Science MemesGreat. My stomach is now haunted by wasp ghosts. Thanks again 2026.
FYI they are very fucking small nowhere near as big as in this image. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fig_wasp
Forcing her way through the ostiole, the mated mature female often loses her wings and most of her antennae. To facilitate her passage through the ostiole, the underside of the female's head is covered with short spines that provide purchase on the walls of the ostiole.
In depositing her eggs, the female also deposits pollen she picked up from her original host fig. This pollinates some of the female flowers on the inside surface of the fig and allows them to mature. After the female wasp lays her eggs and follows through with pollination, she dies.[15]
After pollination, there are several species of non-pollinating wasps that deposit their eggs before the figs harden. These wasps act as parasites to either the fig or possibly the pollinating wasps.
As the fig develops, the wasp eggs hatch and develop into larvae. After going through the pupal stage, the mature male’s first act is to mate with a female - before the female hatches. Consequently, the female will emerge pregnant. The males of many species lack wings and cannot survive outside the fig for a sustained period of time. After mating, a male wasp begins to dig out of the fig, creating a tunnel through which the females escape.[16]
Once out of the fig, the male wasps quickly die. The females find their way out, picking up pollen as they do. They then fly to another tree of the same species, where they deposit their eggs and allow the cycle to begin again.
Nature is so fucking WEEEEIRD
Actually it's not. This is 100% human fault. Fig trees and fig wasps from the same (natural) area do not have this problem. When (I believe California?) imported a ton of trees and wasps to cultivate giant fig farms, they just didn't care that the wasps they got would die during pollination. It was a known issue, that just got ignored. Completely preventable.
I went and looked that up on my own and I could've just clicked into the comments?!
When i came to the post there were no comments to quell my worries so i had to check and share what i found :D
10/10 would read again!
And the bitter pistachio nuts are bitter because you're eating a dead worm that died inside the nut.
Always, always, always double check the pistachio before you eat it. Learned it the hard way and have spread the word ever since. People's reactions are always the same shock horror expression when they realize what the bitter pistachios really are.
I mean... Is it harmful? Otherwise, protein!
That's the spirit! But honestly, they taste so awful, dude. That was why I started inspecting them in the first place.
If you have ever tasted the defensive secretions ladybugs make when they feel threatened, you know what these worms taste like.
I didn't read this.
If the nut looks slightly deformed and/or is dark in the shell and the nut inside is dark, it is not because it was roasted. It's because there is a worm inside. There's often a bit of web inside as well. That is not a part of the pistachio. That is the worm's web.
I know. It is traumatic, but you know now and I'm glad that you do.
The only bad thing about realizing this about pistachios is that I have personally struggled to eat them since, and they used to be one of my favourite snacks. Hopefully, you will be more resilient than me.
I know. It is traumatic, but you know now and I'm glad that you do.
Well I for one, am not.
The only bad thing about realizing this about pistachios is that I have personally struggled to eat them since, and they used to be one of my favourite snacks. Hopefully, you will be more resilient than me.
You really didn't have to share this and I would have gone on to continue enjoying them. Why? 😭
Gonna go stand in traffic now and hope the concussion deletes this fact.
I'm just the messenger. 😆
I read it, but I'm going to try and forget it as soon as possible.
This is why fig newtons taste like delicious hate
No, that's just the sugar. Someone decided figs weren't sweet enough and that they should add sugar to them.
I use them when I need to channel the ghosts of 1000 angry wasps.
hey I think you might be allergic to fig newtons
This actually explains the infamous Fig Newton Debacle of ‘92, which my extended family is still divided over.
New! Fig Newtons: Oops! All Wasps!
I thought for sure this was a joke.
It isn't.
This happens.
BIG FIG WASP
Ew tryptophobia. Thanks I hate it.
So that’s why god hates figs
I mean, Jesus literally said as much.
Matthew 21:18-22 - Jesus Curses a Fig Tree
18 Early in the morning, as Jesus was on his way back to the city, he was hungry. 19 Seeing a fig tree by the road, he went up to it but found nothing on it except leaves. Then he said to it, “May you never bear fruit again!” Immediately the tree withered. 20 And God looketh at Jesus and saideth to himeth- this is a valid crashout-eth.
I want to believe.
Can vegans eat figs?
Vegans eat other foods that use fertilizer. Fertilizers could contain meat or meat byproducts... So....
Fertilizers could contain meat
Can you provide an example? Sounds strange. Too expensive.
You want me to provide examples of fertilizer? Sorry I'm not into shitposting.
cow is made of meat.
cow eats grass.
cow has a shit.
said shit is collected to form manure.
this manure is an animal byproduct which the animal did not consent to you taking.
Same as bees and honey.
Im not vegan but thats what a vegan explained to me
also: bone and blood meal
Consent is needed to pick up animal shit now??
Most certainly, that's expensive shit!
Ok, evil humans extort shit from the cows without their consent. I never thought that vegans are that crazy.
Hi vegan here, stop talking shit about something you know nothing about. Veganism is not living just on air and water.
If there is a cow shitting there is no problem taking that shit and putting it on a field. The problem is when a industry - that is based on exploiting animals - profits of shit flooding our groundwater with nitrate. We want to reduce that huge industry in different ways:
Basic for every vegan: food based on plants not on animals.
how and why people choose to be vegan is as diverse as "being a meateater" is. Some people eat a cheeseburger a day some eat one piece of deer a year.
What I was doing most of my life is environmental veganism: Never bought anything animal related. If e.g. meat was actually thrown away otherwise I'd eat it as well.
Then there are health reasons. (Never digged to deep into that - I am damn healthy and happy with my diet)
And what you are talking about is ethical veganism: Ethical Vegans say there is no reason why humans are allowed to treat animals in that way and think animals are somewhat equal to humans. They would strongly oppose the use of shit of animals on fields if it is possible with less support of the harm the industry does.
Depending on the reason why people do it they often live it in a different way (and sometimes hate each other for their approach)
stop talking shit about something you know nothing about.
Isn't this kind of how society works and why we are where we are?
2nd paragraph: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fertilizer
However, starting in the 19th century...
Hasn't XIX century started in your region yet? :)
Vegans in your country don't like organic food? Blood/bone meal is still a very popular fertlilizer.
Ethical vegans want to avoid suffering. If figs cause or experience suffering is a philosophical question.
It's not these figs.
I had a friend that didn't eat figs for this reason.
Yeah I have a coworker who avoids certain varieties (many varieties don’t include wasps in the normal lifecycle)
ffs they won’t eat honey, and that’s only because you’re stealing the fruits of the bees’ labor. I would assume the International Vegan Council outright bans figs with extreme prejudice.
they won’t eat honey, and that’s only because you’re stealing the fruits of the bees’ labor
Not the only reason. For example, an infamous and common practice in the honey industry is to cut off the queen's wings, ensuring the hive has no choice but to stay there and produce honey.
I've never met a vegan who won't eat figs; figs' relationship with fig wasps is symbiotic, and yes, excluding fruit on the basis that "eating the fruit of a pollinated plant is exploiting the pollinator" probably far oversteps the "practicable" part of veganism:
Veganism is a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.
The only way to get food that doesn't contain bugs and rat shit is to grow it indoors, in virtually hermetically sealed rooms.
Also, the more processed your food, the more material you don't want it contains. Which is why I'm surprised that so many vegans are on the fake meat bandwagon. The fact that they eat so much processed food clearly shows the claim that they're doing it for health is poorly thought out.
Which is why I'm surprised that so many vegans are on the fake meat bandwagon. The fact that they eat so much processed food clearly shows the claim that they're doing it for health is poorly thought out.
This a fundamental misunderstanding of what veganism is, namely:
a philosophy and way of living which seeks to exclude—as far as is possible and practicable—all forms of exploitation of, and cruelty to, animals for food, clothing or any other purpose; and by extension, promotes the development and use of animal-free alternatives for the benefit of animals, humans and the environment. In dietary terms it denotes the practice of dispensing with all products derived wholly or partly from animals.
A plant-based diet for health is normally a "whole foods plant-based diet", for which a mountain of well-studied health benefits exist. But vegans who eat plant-based for the animals can have any level of care about their own health that they want just like any omnivore can; that part is a spectrum.
