Mutualistic relationship of the Agaonidae Family (Insecta: Hymenoptera) with Ficus sp. (Moraceae) contributing to diversity and sustainability in tropical forests

Abstract

Species of the Family Agaonidae are associated with the genus Ficus , as the species of the subfamily Agaoninae behave as pollinators, while the other species are mainly parasites of pollinators or gall formers from other parts of the fig. The male's life cycle is exhausted inside the fig tree's syconium: its role is to mate with the female and, therefore, with its robust jaws, open an exit for her (it is the opposite of what happens among the Strepsiptera, in which the female never leaves the host). Once fertilized, the female will leave the host fig to lay eggs in other figs, thus completing pollination. The objective of this paper is to survey the biology, bionomy and taxonomy of the Agoanidae Family (Hymenoptera). To this end, a bibliographic survey of Agaonidae was carried out in the years 1916 to 2021. Only complete articles published in scientific journals and expanded abstracts presented at national and international scientific events. Data were also obtained from platforms such as: Academia.edu, Frontiers, Qeios, Pubmed, Biological Abstract, Publons, Dialnet, World, Wide Science, Springer, RefSeek, Microsoft Academic, Science and ERIC.