The demise of the red queen: fig functional morphology stabilizes the Ficus-pollinating wasp mutualism

FINN kjellberg

CEFE, CNRS, Univ Montpellier, EPHE, IRD, Montpellier, France

finn.kjellberg@cefe.cnrs.fr

https://www.cefe.cnrs.fr/fr/recherche/ines/ibt/209-finn-kjellberg

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Ficus and their mutualistic pollinating fig-wasps have codiversified for 70 Ma. The wasps breed within the figs (the closed inflorescence) of their host Ficus species and pollinate. The wasps are the sole pollinators of Ficus.

How is the long-term stability of the mutualistic interaction ensured?

Comprehensive data shows that fig morphology determines selection on wasp behaviour and controls the consequences of the selected wasp behaviour. There is no red-queen process.

Once selective forces are analyzed, we detect no destabilizing selection. This conclusion is applicable to most (all?) classical examples of interspecific mutualistic interactions. Theoretical thinking on the evolution of mutualisms has to be rooted in strong biological knowledge.

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