vui. D. 2 Baker: Caprification in Ficiis nota 67 



That some males might accidentally crawl through, or be hustled 

 through, an opening to the outside, is also to be expected, although 

 apparently they would have absolutely nothing to accomplish 

 by a voluntary act of this sort. A remarkable fact is here 

 to be observed — that the emergence of all females from the figs 

 and the death of the males is not at all the closing chapter 

 in the history of the receptacle. The fig survives long after 

 these events, and ultimately passes into a much thickened stage 

 of ripening in which its appearance is much modified, and which 

 is finally followed by softening and rotting or by the work of 

 devouring animals. 



It is likewise a remarkable fact that of the tens of thousands 

 of blastophagas, guests, and parasites that are constantly emerg- 

 ing, I have taken none with the sweep net in surrounding foliage, 

 although I have in this way gathered thousands of minute 

 parasitic Hymenoptera in other groups. Apparently their flight 

 is direct to other figs on the same tree or to other trees of this 

 species. In case the female blastophaga passes to smaller figs 

 on the same tree or on another caprifig, she proceeds at once 

 to the ostiolar end of the receptacle and enters there, pushing 

 her body back and forth between the closely overlapping scales 

 in most laborious fashion, until the interior is reached. Whether 

 the wings are broken oflf during this attempt, as stated by Eisen 

 for the Smyrna blastophaga, or whether they are deliberately 

 removed by the insect itself, as occurs in the females of many 

 ants, I am not certain. In any event, entrance of the fig always 

 involves dealation. I incline to believe that in part at least volun- 

 tary dealation may occur, since I have found the discarded wings 

 adhering to the surface of the fig some little distance about 

 the ostiolar opening, as well as among the scales that guard the 

 mouth of the opening itself. Having accomplished entry to the 

 fig, the female finds the specially modified funnel-shaped stigmas 

 (fig. 1, A), awaiting the deposition of eggs. The eggs are in- 

 serted one through each style to just within the ovary, lying upon 

 the ovule destined to furnish food to the developing larva. One 

 female is capable of depositing very many eggs, although gall 

 figs are commonly encountered in which very few ovaries are 

 occupied. Often as many as a dozen females or more gain 

 entrance to the same fig, so the oviposition is usually quite 

 complete. The female dies immediately after egg laying is 

 concluded. 



However, in case the female has found her way to a tree 

 bearing only figs destined to produce seed — and she seems 



