SCALY FIG : Ficus lepicarpa
The Scaly Fig is a common small tree found along roadsides and streams throughout Borneo and up to 1,500 m altitude on Kinabalu.
At Tawau Hills this fig is common along the forest edge around the edge of the padang.
The young leaves are often eaten by the family of Red Langurs that live in the forest surrounding Tawau Hills Park HQ.
The figs ripen green and provide food for fruit bats and musang such as the Island Palm Civet Paradoxurus philippinensis and Bornean Striped Palm Civets Arctogalidia stigmatica. The figs ripen one by one (not in a big bang) so civets and bats visit every night to check for ripe figs.
This male fig has been attacked by a common Plantain Squirrel Callosciurus notatus so that the squirrel can eat the fig wasps that breed inside the male figs. Note the scaly skin of the fig. The scientific name means scaly in Greek and refers to the appearance of the skin disease leprosy.
Young fig fruits can be distinguished from other common figs by the line around the middle of the fig like an equator line.
