Playing both fig sides: the presence and host-switch of Pleistodontes imperialis (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) is confirmed in Greece and Cyprus

Abstract

Several Oriental and Australian species of Ficus have been introduced outside their native range and planted as ornamentals in urban habitats throughout the Mediterranean. This translocation of plant species has led to the introduction of host-specific insects such as their pollinating fig wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae). Here, the Australian fig wasp Pleistodontes imperialis Saunders, 1882 is reported for the first time from Greece. Partial COI genes were sequenced for specimens sampled in Greece and Cyprus, and they appear to share identical haplotypes. Interestingly, this species-specific wasp not only develops in figs of its usual host, Ficus rubiginosa, but also in figs of Ficus watkinsiana, another Australian species introduced in Greece, which is pollinated by a second agaonid species (Pleistodontes nigriventris Girault, 1915) in its native range. Although no negative economic or environmental impacts have been observed yet, monitoring of alien Ficus spp. in the region is encouraged to prevent their possible establishment in natural habitats.