The naturalisation of banyan figs(Ficusspp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) in New Zealand

Abstract

The Australian banyan-type fig trees Ficus macrophylla and F. rubiginosa are commonly cultivated in northern New Zealand. Both have now acquired their pollinating wasps, apparently by longdistance dispersal. Pleistodontes imperialis, the wasp specific to F. rubiginosa, arrived within the last 20 years or so, and naturalised plants are found near parent trees. The wasp specific to F. macrophylla, P. froggatti, is newly recorded here for New Zealand, and naturalisation of this fig too seems inevitable. The size and vigour of both figs and their lack of natural enemies (notably an immunity to possum browsing) indicate that they may be able to invade forest and other native plant communities.