Site icon THE FIGS OF BORNEO

Ficus tinctoria var gibbosa: ant domatia

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ABOVE: Ficus tinctoria var gibbosa  (male)  fig fruit. These ants appear to have hollowed out this ripe male fig fruit either so that they can use it for housing (domatia) or possibly also to use it for farming aphids.  If you look inside the red circle,  you will note two tiny almost transparent aphids, which must have been transported there by the ants.   Many species of ants “farm” aphids so that they can feed on on honey dew (sugary secretions) excreted by the aphids.

TOP: Male fig fruit in cross section. LEFT:  Cross section of male fig fruit inhabited by ants. RIGHT: Male ripe fig fruit. The ants were entering the male fig fruits via the open ostiole. Only a few figs were inhabited by ants.
The majority of fig fruits were not inhabited by ants.

Ficus tinctoria var gibbosa  (male) tree 
Two large Ficus tinctoria var gibbosa fig trees growing on the hill behind Fort Margherita (next to the Dewan Undangan Negeri  parliament building) in the centre of Kuching. The tree on the right is growing together with a Ficus virens and a Ficus benjamina on an old oil palm.

Fort Margherita  Kuching. Fort Margherita is currently occupied by the Brooke Museum. The forest behind the fort is rich in large fig trees including Ficus tinctoria var gibbosa, Ficus virens and Ficus benjamina.

Fig Hill, Kuching

 

 

 

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