Would this render figs off limits for vegans and vegetarians? 🤔
No wonder God hates figs
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.
If you look at the detail in the ghosty wasp, it’s clear that it’s just an edited image of a wasp pasted onto a fig
I wonder where they got that image from…
The first result for a fig wasp in a search engine? Nah, that’d be too obvious!
nowhere as big as in this image
Yeah when they're alive, but everyone knows you grow larger when you become a ghost
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.
You're just plain wrong. Figs and fig wasps have been coevolving for millions of years, and this is just how these species of fig and wasp evolved. Lots of animals have evolved to die after they reproduce. This is nature and has nothing to do with commercial fig growers
Nature is not weird? What that person described is not weird? It's weird. You cannot convince me nature is not weird. Because nature is so fucking WEEEEEEIRDDDD
Fair
What problem do you mean?
The blastophaga psenes wasps in Turkey die during pollination just like the blastophaga psenes wasps in California do.
Here is more information about how figs (and fig wasps) came to be cultivated in the US.
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
Great. My stomach is now haunted by wasp ghosts. Thanks again 2026.
This is why fig newtons taste like delicious hate
I use them when I need to channel the ghosts of 1000 angry wasps.
No, that's just the sugar. Someone decided figs weren't sweet enough and that they should add sugar to them.
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 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 read it, but I'm going to try and forget it as soon as possible.
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.
If you have ever tasted the defensive secretions ladybugs make when they feel threatened, you know what these worms taste like.
You say that like it's a normal thing to have tasted. Please don't tell me I've also been unknowingly eating ladybug secretions this whole time😭
Nah, but I grew up in the countryside and part of that territory comes with picking up insects and studying them. And ladybugs would secrete this fluid that would smell and stick to you fingers and when you're a little kid, running around in the garden, playing with bugs one minute and picking strawberries the next, you end up putting those fingers in your mouth at some point and tasting the bitterness of ladybug "leave me alone"-juice.
BIG FIG WASP
Did your god know, insects grow, in my pome?
Woooo!
Can vegans eat figs?
Most vegans do. The general idea is to avoid exploiting animals, but the wasps are living out their natural life cycle. There are a small number of people who do worry about preventing wild insect suffering but they're not concerned particularly with figs.
not if they have trypophobia
Vegans eat other foods that use fertilizer. Fertilizers could contain meat or meat byproducts... So....
I think I heard recently that one of the mushrooms that is popular as a vegan meat substitute lives off of some sort of living creature like insects or something.
But realistically, it's all the circle of life. Animal life is part of the circle. Probably all plants have consumed nutrients that came from an animal in some way.
Ethical vegans want to avoid suffering. If figs cause or experience suffering is a philosophical question.
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.
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.
Science Memes
Welcome to c/science_memes @ Mander.xyz!
A place for majestic STEMLORD peacocking, as well as memes about the realities of working in a lab.

Rules
- Don't throw mud. Behave like an intellectual and remember the human.
- Keep it rooted (on topic).
- No spam.
- Infographics welcome, get schooled.
This is a science community. We use the Dawkins definition of meme.
Research Committee
Other Mander Communities
Science and Research
Biology and Life Sciences
- !abiogenesis@mander.xyz
- !animal-behavior@mander.xyz
- !anthropology@mander.xyz
- !arachnology@mander.xyz
- !balconygardening@slrpnk.net
- !biodiversity@mander.xyz
- !biology@mander.xyz
- !biophysics@mander.xyz
- !botany@mander.xyz
- !ecology@mander.xyz
- !entomology@mander.xyz
- !fermentation@mander.xyz
- !herpetology@mander.xyz
- !houseplants@mander.xyz
- !medicine@mander.xyz
- !microscopy@mander.xyz
- !mycology@mander.xyz
- !nudibranchs@mander.xyz
- !nutrition@mander.xyz
- !palaeoecology@mander.xyz
- !palaeontology@mander.xyz
- !photosynthesis@mander.xyz
- !plantid@mander.xyz
- !plants@mander.xyz
- !reptiles and amphibians@mander.xyz
Physical Sciences
- !astronomy@mander.xyz
- !chemistry@mander.xyz
- !earthscience@mander.xyz
- !geography@mander.xyz
- !geospatial@mander.xyz
- !nuclear@mander.xyz
- !physics@mander.xyz
- !quantum-computing@mander.xyz
- !spectroscopy@mander.xyz
Humanities and Social Sciences
Practical and Applied Sciences
- !exercise-and sports-science@mander.xyz
- !gardening@mander.xyz
- !self sufficiency@mander.xyz
- !soilscience@slrpnk.net
- !terrariums@mander.xyz
- !timelapse@mander.xyz