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Ficus megaleia: male fig fruit at Kipandi, Sabah

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A ripe male fig fruit of Ficus megaleia looks very different from the female fruit. For a comparison see Ficus megaleia: Female fig fruit at Kipandi

Ripe male Ficus megaleia fig fruit are very different from ripe female figs. The female figs contain a sweet ball of jelly full of tiny seeds to attract dispersers. Ripe male figs are covered in layers of  thin indigestible bracts. Nothing eats them. They are hollow inside and rot on the ground.
The majority of Borneo’s figs are dioecious with male and female fig fruit growing on separate trees.  Female figs contain flowers which are pollinated by fig wasps to produce seeds which need to be dispersed. Female figs are  sweet, juicy and fleshy when  they ripen to attract dispersers. Male figs do not produce seeds and their purpose is to act as breeding chambers for fig wasps which  after hatching leave the male fig to pollinate female figs with male pollen.  Male figs do not need to be dispersed  and so are not edible by animals.

 

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