''Pleistodontes '' is a genus of

fig wasp Fig wasps are wasps of the superfamily Chalcidoidea which spend their larval stage inside figs. Most are pollinators but others simply feed off the plant. The non-pollinators belong to several groups within the superfamily Chalcidoidea, while th ...

s native to

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

and

New Guinea New Guinea (; Hiri Motu Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea). It is a simplified version of ...

, with one species (''P. claviger'') from

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's List ...

. Fig wasps have an

obligate {{wiktionary, obligate As an adjective, obligate means "by necessity" (antonym ''facultative'') and is used mainly in biology in phrases such as: * Obligate aerobe, an organism that cannot survive without oxygen * Obligate anaerobe, an organism that ...

mutualism with the

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

species they pollinate. ''Pleistodontes '' pollinates species in section ''Malvanthera'' of the ''Ficus''

subgenus In biology, a subgenus (plural: subgenera) is a taxonomic rank directly below genus. In the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature, a subgeneric name can be used independently or included in a species name, in parentheses, placed between t ...

Urostigma A banyan, also spelled "banian", is a Ficus, fig that develops accessory trunks from Aerial_root#"Stranglers"_(prop-root), adventitious prop roots, allowing the tree to spread outwards indefinitely. This distinguishes banyans from other trees ...

''. In their revision of the Australian members of the genus, Carlos Lopez-Vaamonde and coauthors expressed the opinion that ''P. claviger'' did not belong in the genus.

Species

The

Natural History Museum A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...

lists: * '' Pleistodontes addicotti'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes achorus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * '' Pleistodontes astrabocheilus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * '' Pleistodontes athysanus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * '' Pleistodontes blandus'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes claviger'' (

Mayr Mayr is a German surname. Notable people with the surname include: * Andrea Mayr (born 1979), Austrian female long-distance runner * Ernst Mayr (1904–2005), German American evolutionary biologist * Georg Mayr (1564–1623), Bavarian Jesuit pri ...

) * '' Pleistodontes cuneatus'' Wiebes * ''

Pleistodontes deuterus ''Pleistodontes deuterus'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with ''Ficus pleurocarpa ''Ficus pleurocarpa'', commonly known as the banana fig, karpe fig or gabi fig, is a fig that is endemic ...

'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * ''

Pleistodontes froggatti ''Pleistodontes froggatti'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with the Moreton Bay Fig, ''Ficus macrophylla'', the species it pollinates. Outside of Australia, populations have become establi ...

'' Mayr * '' Pleistodontes galbinus'' Wiebes * ''

Pleistodontes greenwoodi ''Pleistodontes greenwoodi'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with ''Ficus obliqua ''Ficus obliqua'', commonly known as the small-leaved fig, is a tree in the family Moraceae, native to eas ...

'' ( Grandi) * '' Pleistodontes immaturus'' Wiebes * ''

Pleistodontes imperialis ''Pleistodontes '' is a genus of fig wasps native to Australia and New Guinea, with one species (''P. claviger'') from Java. Fig wasps have an obligate mutualism with the fig species they pollinate. ''Pleistodontes '' pollinates species in s ...

'' Saunders * '' Pleistodontes longicaudus'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes macrocainus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * '' Pleistodontes mandibularis'' Wiebes * ''

Pleistodontes nigriventris ''Pleistodontes nigriventris'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with ''Ficus watkinsiana ''Ficus watkinsiana'', commonly known as strangler fig, Watkins' fig, nipple fig or the green-leav ...

'' ( Girault) * '' Pleistodontes nitens'' (Girault) * '' Pleistodontes plebejus'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes proximus'' Wiebes * ''

Pleistodontes regalis ''Pleistodontes regalis'' is a species of fig wasp which is native to Australia. It has an obligate mutualism with ''Ficus pleurocarpa ''Ficus pleurocarpa'', commonly known as the banana fig, karpe fig or gabi fig, is a fig that is endemic ...

'' Grandi * '' Pleistodontes rennellensis'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes rieki'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes rigisamos'' Wiebes * '' Pleistodontes schizodontus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook * '' Pleistodontes xanthocephalus'' Lopez-Vaamonde, Dixon & Cook

References

External links

{{Taxonbar, from=Q7204489 Agaonidae Hymenoptera genera Hymenoptera of Australia Insects of New Guinea Insects of Indonesia Taxa named by Edward Saunders (entomologist)