Ficus glandifera growing at the base of a coconut tree near the Maratua Paradise Resort on Pulau Maratua, East Kalimantan. This fig in SECTION: MALVANTHERA is a member of a group of Australian figs which to date have not been found growing in the wild west of Wallace’s Line. The presence of a sapling of Ficus glandifera on Maratua indicates that both the seeds and the fig wasps that pollinate this fig have dispersed east to west across Wallace’s Line from Sulawesi. The most likely dispersers are Island Flying Foxes which both roost on the palms and feed on coconut nectar in this plantation.
Ficus glandifera has also been found growing on the nearby island of Pulau Sangkalaki.
Island Flying Fox Pteropus hymomelanus. On Pulau Maratua these bats feed on coconut nectar and figs.The Maratua Paradise Resort is a dive resort based on the Pulau Matatura the largest island in the Derawan Group off the coast of East Kalimantan. Note the coconut plantation growing along the beach opposite the resort. Each night large numbers of Island Flying Foxes arrive to feed on the nectar of the flowering coconuts.We recorded 5 different species of young figs growing on the roots or stumps of coconut trees in this coconut plantation next to the Maratua Paradise Resort including, Ficus caulocarpa,Ficus septica, Ficus microcarpa and Ficus annulata.
