KILL first, ask questions later – if you’re a wasp living inside a fig.
James Cook of the University of Reading, UK, and his colleagues found that some male fig wasps go on the rampage when looking for a mate, often decapitating males from different species, as well as beheading rival males from their own species.
Fighting to the death is not normal behaviour in the animal kingdom – but circumstances in the figs are unusual. Male wasps live only a few days, and females are rare. It makes sense for males to move fast and risk their lives for an opportunity to mate – even if that means fighting before they identify whether their opponent is a genuine rival (Ecological Entomology, doi.org/7rj).
This article appeared in print under the headline “Wasps sever heads in brutal fig war”