Figs have tiny dead wasps inside them (but they're ok to eat)

[@PedanticAntics]

Scientists have shown that over the course of a year, on average, about eight figs crawl into your mouth at night while you sleep.

[@jojomojo508]

Israeli scientists have shown that you can murder children as long as they're Palestinian

[@ShadowRulah]

That's actually a misconception, Figs George who lives in a cave and eats thousands of figs a night should not have been included in the study.

[@PedanticAntics]

@@ShadowRulah you don't get to fig-pick the data to support your agenda.

[@leetri]

"average person eats 8 figs a year" factoid actualy just statistical error. average person eats 0 figs per year. Figs Georg, who lives in cave & eats over 10,000 each day, is an outlier adn should not have been counted

[@PedanticAntics]

@@leetri fig news, I don't buy it!

[@iamnoone21]

Imagine living your whole life inside part of a living organism. It feeds you when you're young and dissolves you if you don't leave it soon enough. Your instincts tell you to mate with your siblings and burrow out of this thing that's all you've ever known, and then half of you die as soon as you reach the outside world, while the other half burrows into different pods to get digested there, surrounded by your own unborn babies Sounds like a scifi. I love how wild nature is

[@charlespentrose7834]

A lot of sci-fi is inspired be weird (to us) things in nature.

[@jojomojo508]

That's just Alabama

[@MuzikBike]

Reality is often more terrifying than fiction.

[@PedanticAntics]

Underrated comment 👏

[@paddington1670]

@@jojomojo508 damnit beat me to it.

[@glenmorrison8080]

Botanist here. Adam, I have to say you really do your botany info accurately. It's clear you so careful research and it kicks ass.

[@kimberlypatton9634]

Yes! As a retired horticulturist ,his info is not only clear but accurate.Here in W.Tx,we are able to grow the most wonderful figs,and the wasps aren't usually a problem,it's getting out there to pick the figs every day before the grackles,Cardinals,Bluejays,Mockingbirds,Doves and Sparrows go wild on your fruits!

[@traceyevans2757]

BoTaNiSt HeRe 😂

[@glenmorrison8080]

@@traceyevans2757 Not sure what is strange about citing one's profession when commenting on how a video is handling the subject matter of that profession.

[@ciarancarville7730]

@@traceyevans2757 ViRGiN HeRe 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[@jasonrusso9808]

Get a room

[@rin_etoware_2989]

since i learned that the fig essentially dissolves the wasp inside it, that just made figs sound more monstrous to me

[@deepakhiranandani6488]

Yes. Me too, sort of. A bit creepy, it seems.

[@hamburger512]

Extra protein

[@yurirodriguez888]

It sounds a bit terrifying. It reminded me a lot of this one chapter in the Life Of Pi, where Pi is on an island made of moss that “eats” any animal that’s still on the ground during the night. Even finding some human teeth in the bud of flower that has yet to bloom growing on the island.

[@apw9929]

I think the wasps are fine with it

[@jaspervanheycop9722]

There's lots of plants that can do similar things, that slight tingle on your tongue and lips when you eat pineapple? Yeah that's the enzymes in the pineapple trying to digest YOU, you just usually are faster.

[@catylynch7909]

I have only vague memories of a fig tree that was in our backyard, when I was very little. I remember that it was fun to climb, and that it had large, thick leaves that provided shade from summer heat. For years, I heard my Mom recall how difficult it was to keep the patio clean from dropping figs. This was in Livermore, Calif., (east of San Francisco). She said that she would sweep, and hose the patio ... only to walk inside, and hear another "plop." Now it makes sense. The tree was, likely, rejecting the figs that were of no use to it. Fun stuff!

[@jamescanjuggle]

im visiting croatia and these fig trees are everywhere, its cool to read your comment describing one meanwhile i can look at the real thing just moments after

[@imstupid880]

Livermore is a great place to be, good wine country

[@shanemelott3131]

This reads like something from a novel

[@prometheus5770]

no, those were not unfertilized figs that 'plopped' because they would be unripe, dry or even shriveled. they wouldn't be mess either. the messy figs that bothered her must have been fully ripe soft figs that popped as they fell and dirtied the surface with their juice and flash. interestingly, figs and mulberries, probably the two messiest fruit trees that litter surfaces with sweet, sticky and dark red jam-like substances are both from the same Moraceae plant family

[@Hephera]

fig trees dropping their figs is the entire goal of the fertilization process. they get pollinated, grow seeds inside them, and then drop off when theyre ripe so an animal can eat them and spread the seeds. they dont just drop when theyre being rejected

[@TonyAlbera]

Finally a youtuber who plays his ads at the end of the video. As a paid customer of youtube premium which advertises no commercial interruption, it is frustrating when there is still commercial interruption.

[@justinmorrison6279]

Do you actually still get ads if you pay for premium?

[@olliknecks]

@@justinmorrison6279 Hes talking about advertisements/sponsorships included in the video by the videos creator

[@NoThisIsPatches]

*laughs in free yt premium* AMATEUR

[@falkster4045]

You can get an extension called "sponsorblock" to skip the ads

[@14reasons58]

"As a paid customer of KZbin premium "- literally pays a mass censoring company that's destroying civilization . doesn't even get a simple ad blocker. Revolting

[@guyanomaly]

“Figs have tiny wasps inside them” can be said to the same rhythm as Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles

[@Azubi_Meatball4349]

Flowers in a green skin, figgy power

[@pennyforyourthots]

Damn. This is the statement of all time.

[@michaelfranciotti3900]

God I love the internet...

[@zhippidydoodah]

Wasplettes in a fig fruit, bzzz bzzz power

[@TommyGuy1111]

Dead wasps in a fig fruit!

[@wtfserpico]

I picked up a pack of Fig Newtons for the first time in YEARS last week and thought something just wasn't the same about them...turns out it was the seeds and wasp bits that I was missing. Such a bummer. The seedy waspy Newtons were so much better.

[@Tariqali-bj5hm]

Lol

[@arina4030]

honestly i love it

[@aerynstormcrow]

My newtons I had tonight had seeds. And the crunch.

[@alexcarter8807]

The fig absorbs the female wasp ... so you won't find a wasp in a fig

[@wtfserpico]

@@alexcarter8807 The waspy-bits part was a joke, the crunchy seedy part wasn't. They simply are better with seeds.

[@Vegeta1423]

Thanks for getting the point immediately at the beginning of the video. Usually a lot of people try to bury the lead. I really appreciate that. I watched the whole video, good info here especially for someone who knows nothing about this stuff but has eaten a good amount of figs lol.

[@Merlmabase]

I'm not weirded out by too much on the food realm, but this definitely blew my mind when I first learned of it. Adds a whole other freaky dimension to an already pretty alien (and beautiful) not-fruit

[@swedneck]

same, the wasps basically being ants means i wouldn't really care even if they weren't dissolved. At that miniscule size the insect is basically a more palatable grain of sand.

[@jojomojo508]

I'm much more scared about the illegal settler colonial occupation of Palestine by the Zionist Regime from which the quoted "scientists" (colonial occupiers who served in the child-murdering IDF) in Adam's video hail than I am from a couple old dead wasps in a fig.

[@SuperN0vaNexus]

@@swedneck I'll forever see "ant's" as nutritious sand now, thank ^_^

[@katarinajanoskova]

I think the pistachio worms are far worse... :(

[@autumnwitchmaple]

fruitn't

[@Gregs_World]

At almost 60 years of age is a wonderful thing that I can learn something new every day this (and of course I love your channel very much), is one of the most fascinating things I've ever heard thank you for the education what an unbelievable story thank you

[@angelquizhpe2473]

@@Ryan07665 what

[@williamford2510]

Great video! Pleasantly surprised to see something about fig wasps in my feed. Someone may have already commented about this, but I think the wasps pictured at 0:33 and 2:06 are parasitoids of fig wasps in the family pteromalidae. They’re depositing their eggs through the fig so their larvae can feed on the developing fig wasps!

[@jfrancium]

I was just telling my mom about fig wasps yesterday! Perfect timing, now I've gotta show this video to her so we can bond some more over weird bug facts

[@seitanbeatsyourmeat666]

As a mom, that’s the sweetest thing I’ve ever heard 😂

[@toqa6735]

Same ,..but I'll have to translate and she'll get dizzy with my delivery 💀💀

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

So you know, most commercial figs do not have wasps at all. They were cultivated to grow without

[@Hhhh22222-w]

Wait you bond with your parents?

[@elhatesallofyou]

how cute!

[@ScreamingSicilian70]

This was the most interesting thing I've seen on KZbin. I've only heard the urban legends about how everyone was eating wasps. When my mom moved out here in Vegas, she planted a fig tree and it would make fruit 4 times a year. Her favorite way to eat them was to wrap them in prosciutto. Love your channel, keep up the great content!

[@starsonapollo2]

She sounds like a neighbor I had in LV names Maria.l, her figs were bomb, and her apricots too

[@angelbabycards3595]

No worries, Friends. I used to work at a large Fig Picking and Packing Company, here in Central California, (Jura Farms, Fruit Packing). It was my job, to walk around the fig trees in the hot summer mornings and afternoons, take refrigerated figs that had young fruit flies inside, where I would then place [One or Two figs] in a small brown bag, stapled to each fig tree, the tiny fruit flies would come out of the now warm figs, - and begin going from fig blossom to fig blossom, in very much the way We humans use bees to pollinate a variety of trees for fruit, etc. 'Honestly, it''s quite normal for them to do that, as they have done that specific job for probably Millions of years.' And so: Yes, I'm 100% sure the small fruit flies will end up in the figs as we harvested them, but nobody gave it one thought, as the fruit flies are beneficial little insects that never gave us a second thought. They don't / can't bite, they don't care at all about humans, but they go straight away to their work as I recall, when I was a young man, back during the Summer of 1984. Yup. In essence: the Fig picking process is labor intensive, the harvesting of figs that are placed into large wooden bins was a little dirty, as both Flies and a few Regular flies would naturally land on the figs outside of the warehouse processing room, - but the end result (Yummy Figs) was actually quite good. Mom used to love em. Grew up with Fig Newtons. No worries here, lol. - ' The Fig Newtons always tasted great! - Nuff Said.' - Peace. \\//

[@danielthecake8617]

they're wasps not flies

[@dumptrck9285]

I just learned about this after eating some figs from my backyard, and I was very disturbed. thanks for the video, Adam!

[@moesalamander7012]

Reading this made me audibly gasp

[@kutter_ttl6786]

I hope it hasn't turned you off eating figs.

[@jonboy9734]

@@kutter_ttl6786 extra protein

[@gorilladisco9108]

@@hits_different What if the wasp gene turn him into Wasp Man.

[@peanutcake.]

*"This video made me regret my passion of eating figs. I am no longer satisfied with my views of such, and I will never look at them the same again."* "Great video Adam! 😁"

[@hephie]

Jesus Christ why does this piece on figs rock so hard. I love your deep dives and I'm always surprised how much I take away from these. Keep em comin!

[@jakeaurod]

Speaking of Jesus Christ, maybe this puts his cursing of the Fig Tree into a different perspective. What if it's a just-so story to explain parthenogenesis and how certain figs have virgin births now, and miss out on that hot wasp on wasp action.

[@jilligain3409]

That was quite interesting! I planted a fig tree about 24 yrs ago & now every yr I get tons of figs. It’s a beautiful tree. All kinds of birds & other critters come when it fruits

[@johnr6087]

Say what you will about Adam’s culinary abilities; his selection of weird KZbin titles is so good they belong in a museum of their own. I would put this next to “cucumbers are melons and sometimes they explode.”

[@Ophidia_Lore]

Glad to see this being talked about here. Parasitoid wasps are a, very weird branch of the Animalia tree. Hoping this gets people interested in learning more about this branch of hymenoptera (ants, bees and wasps). Fun fact, those wasps you mentioned breifly are Parasitoid, not true parasites! its weird distinction, but it helps to find them if you want to find them. Good work as always

[@brown9629]

Good to see another fellow who knows his entomology! Parasitoid wasps are a focal point of my research, and this year we finally implemented a system to rear them in large numbers. The IPM potential of these tiny guys are truly incredible.

[@Ophidia_Lore]

@@brown9629 Neat! would love to read an abstract on some research. Sadly most of my studies (college, i do lab work now) was comparative anatomy focused, I just have an enjoyment of herpetology and some entomology

[@ddacoe0]

This video was fascinating!

[@brainbomb.]

Stop pushing Klaus Schwab's agenda thanks.

[@lua2wood]

@@brainbomb. fr these people love eating the bugs

[@KingMasadaX]

You know that's information I didn't need to know, like EVER, so thankyou Adam.

[@ToddsDiscGolf]

Thanks man, you cured my phobia of eating wasps in figs! I’m so relieved to hear that they dissolve

[@lonalxaia]

U vill eatz zee bugz.

[@DJMerck]

You probably don't have to worry about it because almost all fig trees are self-pollinating you have to go search for a fig tree that needs to be pollinated by a wasp and there's very few of those here in America. A quick Google search will let you know how misleading this video is

[@TunaIRL]

@@DJMerck And you only had to watch the video a little further to see that he talks about that. Amazing

[@DJMerck]

@@TunaIRL no thanks...

[@myusername3689]

When I first heard about this, I was more worried about the sting from a potential wasp than the wasp itself. I’m pretty sure these wasps don’t have stings tho so I don’t worry.

[@ZombieWilfred]

I actually found one inside a fig when I was young before I knew about this and thought "that's weird, creepy, and kinda gross," but I just assumed it was some kind of bug that died eating into the fig, picked it out, and ate the rest of the fig. I guess that makes me one of the few people who was actually relieved when they found out it's totally normal for there to be dead wasps inside of figs. 🙃😆

[@lua2wood]

yeah totally normal to eat the bugs!!!!!!! eat them all!!!!

[@katie7748]

​@@lua2wood And live in the pods and own nothing and be happy

[@Chevalier_knight]

Untrue crickets have been known to be bad for human consumption for like 60 years and for the last 30 known to have huge cancer risks

[@Denelix]

So when u were young you just knew what plant was used in making these? You were pretty smart when u were young!!!

[@ZombieWilfred]

@@Denelix I didn't know why the dead wasp was in there, just found it while eating a whole fig, not a fig Newton, and then later found out that it's how figs are pollinated.

[@willt3223]

buy the plant base figs bars from costco. they are plant base which meab they grow their figs in an enclosed place because if a wasp is in there it cant be plant base.

[@irreleverent]

You can very easily argue growing unfertilized fruit isn't bad for the tree but evolutionarily beneficial if humans choose to cultivate those trees specifically for their more consistent yield. Even if they're "wasting" energy on non-reproductive figs, there are few evolutionary forces more potent than human agriculture.

[@KaitouKaiju]

People underestimate the evolutionary pressure humans provide and personally I think it's as natural as any other source

[@jasonreed7522]

Avocados somewhat famously were dispersed by giant ground sloths, all of which went extinct so why do we still have avocados, human intervention. It is certainly a survival strategy to be liked by humans who often will go out of their way to "pamper" plants we like. (Usually to eat them, but we replant and care for them to assure a stable food supply. So a tree "wasting" energy growing useless fruit is really investing in getting some farmers to come pamper it or its children/clones.)

[@KalebPeters99]

If you haven't heard of Michael Pollan's work you should check it out. He talks about the "plants that have domesticated humans" hahah.

[@SansBalance]

Sure we be powerful. Until the next bug figure a way around your forever-cloned fig orchard and the never-sexual figs join their banana bros on the road to annihilation by avoiding genetic recombination.

[@GreenBlueWalkthrough]

Also the most successful (by numbers) animal species on Earth are Humans and our pets and farms animals.

[@Gamayun.]

We probably unknowingly eat so many things that we would consider gross, but ehhh if it tastes good and it’s healthy, is there really a problem

[@BknMoonStudios]

Honey is bee shit, and it's fucking delicious! 😋

[@SirEmrik]

I feel like fermentation seems like a weird concept, but damn is it nice to eat yeast farts.

[@mastod0n1]

There are maximum standards for bug bits and rat poop and the like in commercial food products and the maximum allowed amount is almost always not zero.

[@Ark_knight0]

@@mastod0n1 wym almost? it is impossible to take away *everything*

[@mastod0n1]

@@Ark_knight0 yeah well I don't like talking in absolutes in situations that I'm not 100% confident in my knowledge

[@tiazadobbs7475]

We love our fig tree. We put up so many jars of fig preserves this year. We did not see any wasp in the figs. The preserves are delicious !

[@Faraonqa]

i absolutely love figs, we have always had a fig tree in our garden,figs are just amazing

[@bd-fb1ul]

I love figs but their trees are way too big man. We sadly had to cut down our fig tree because it was growing way too big for our yard

[@jojomojo508]

I love Israeli figs especially cause the Israeli farmers who grow them water their soil using the blood of the Palestinian families they've murdered to acquire their farmland

[@clownjev]

this is very true

[@blueberry4082]

@@jojomojo508 😂😂😂

[@jojomojo508]

@@gohom3882 Israeli detected

[@savannaha5038]

3:30 Minor nitpick, that's actually a parasitoid, not a parasite! True parasites are detrimental to their host's health, but don't necessarily kill them, while parasitoids kill their host as part of the process.

[@complainer406]

Parasitoids are a subcategory of parasites. Parasitoid is more accurate, but parasite isn't incorrect.

[@Keeki549]

Ok nerd 🤓

[@deductionsdiary105]

@@Keeki549 This channel is literally about explaining things

[@coolcatcastle8]

@@Keeki549 💀💀💀

[@yasirahmed1574]

@@Keeki549 ok discord moderator

[@PeterTeamExtreme]

I think describing inflorescence that way implies that it needs to be inverted but this isn’t the case. Inflorescence simply means multiple flowers on the same stem section. It’s a bit more broad.

[@fgvcosmic6752]

I wondered that at the start, but the Brocoli example cleared it up for me

[@matthiasmohr8138]

Sounds like free protein to me.

[@xFionaWafflesx]

More like bee protein

[@traphimawari7760]

Sounds like free revenge to me, extra sweet

[@potatopie4579]

I mean that a positive way to see it I guess

[@yvanthedrakon]

They are going to start charging for them now that you mention it lmao

[@geeked24-7]

@@potatopie4579 lmao he's an optimist

[@benbaxter2061]

I lost one of my first teeth biting into a fig Newton and hitting a seed. Had one recently and also noticed there were no seeds, but I dismissed it as just more over processed food. Good to know!

[@SpectateDrake]

Always wondered what that little crunch would be. Nice. Adds to the fig.

[@AHLovv]

exactly lol

[@americancheese7383]

Can we just acknowledge the fact this man is able to make a living by filming himself climbing a tree,picking figs and eating fig newtons while wearing a super mario shirt? I'm not being sarcastic. Obviously theres a lot more going on, but still. I honestly think thats awesome.

[@DoremiFasolatido1979]

So, another example of how capitalism and social media is hurting everyone? Got it.

[@TheAbandonedAccount7]

Well they always said nerds own the future

[@nonethelessfirst8519]

Eventually everyone is gonna be a streamer and there isn't gonna be anything to stream.

[@snakejazz]

not seeing the part where he climbed the tree

[@id10t98]

@@nonethelessfirst8519 hollywood ran out of ideas years ago. now it's blow everything up, shoot everything up and show some skin with some hotties and it's a movie. toss in some choreographed fight scenes that would make mike tyson say "uncle" and producers eat it up.

[@jamescanjuggle]

Im in croatia visiting my gfs family and every street has fig trees, theyre growing everywhere here! Its really nice to be able to watch a video like yours then go out "in the real world" and see it in action!

[@kay-collins]

I hate that they plant our trees here in the US to not produce any fruits smh you can find almost NO trees around here with fruits growing on them. They say it’s because they’re hard to keep the walk ways clean with fruit producing trees. Idk... seems like they could feed a lot of people if they did let them grow. But some people will defend their decision not to. So who knows. We love capitalism here & have been brainwashed to believe any other way is “wrong”. Smh

[@ameliawilder28]

Same with strawberry yogurt. Bugs are used to make that pink colour.

[@LydiAtheistLady]

I love the fact that there was a paper published on figs. This is really so cool I’m so glad I clicked on this!

[@PlanetRylosIV]

I’ve heard about this before but this was an awesome deep-dive into the actual relationship and process, as well as some excellent macro views! Many thanks, Adam!

[@TheQuota2001]

its bugs in chocolate too, and the color red for food is made from dead bug blood. The more you know (Music sound effect)

[@AkiRakuFuji]

i’m glad i’m not the only one who noticed that figs aren’t the same anymore. I still eat em sometimes, but it’s not the same

[@InsertEpikNameHere]

Wild figs grew in my back yard at my old home and I ate one and it became my favorite fruit related crop. But watching this makes me rethink my life decisions…

[@mariotheundying]

Yummy bug, extra nutrients

[@drewmurdaugh6264]

what most people do not realize are t....ny little wasps that you find in figs are pollinated by those little wasps. without those little wasp there would be no figs or fig newtons ohh give me a figgy pudding no give me a figgy pudding and don't forget the wasps ..

[@eitantaub5503]

There is nothing like the taste of fresh figs...

[@InsertEpikNameHere]

@@eitantaub5503 Yea nothin’ better… But now i can’t stop thinking of wasps and i know it’s ok to eat but if i let my relatives know they’ll FLIP when I eat it!

[@atverde]

Wow! Informative 👍

[@mumimor]

OMG, I'm now even more sad than I was about losing my first fig tree. Once upon a time, my gran planted a fig which was perhaps the most Northern fig tree in Europe. This is disputed, but whatever. This fig tree bore ripe figs every three or four years, and our feeling about it was that it was about the weather. A few years before gran died, we decided to plant an offspring in another part of the farm, and it flourished. It still does. All was good. But when my gran was dying, and my cousins and I were at the hospital, my ignorant uncle saw it fit to cut down the original fig tree, and also "treat" all the herbs with Roundup. When we returned to the farm, rosemary, lovage, mint (who the f... can kill mint?), dill, parsley, and thyme was gone as well as the roses, and we have never been able to regrow them because it takes ages to get out the Roundup. And the remaining fig tree is no longer able to finish the fruits. I suppose the fig wasps lived in the old tree. I've recently posted about this on an other food channel, but never before, and I think it's because its only now, ten years later, I understand the devastating effect my ignorant uncle's actions had. I had never imagined that even today, I can't grow a rosemary bush on a south-facing wall, because there is still Roundup in the ground. Now, I will build raised beds. But goddamit. And think of all the thousands of acres of land that have been treated with Roundup.

[@toqa6735]

Wow

[@reppy]

If it makes you feel any better, if you lived in Northern Europe, you did not have the fig wasp. So they were never there to be killed. I grow figs in the Pacific Northwest and I do not have fig wasps. Many fig varieties are self-fruitful. They are referred to as common figs, or ficus carica. You may be able to take a cutting from the existing plant and grow a clone. However, if the existing plant was grown from seed, then it will not be a genetic copy of the original tree. And may not produce any figs that you'd want to eat.

[@taylormallory8705]

You may want to look at other sources for your soil conditions, if things still aren't going well after 10 years, because roundup contamination will be almost entirely cleared up after 6 months, for aerobic conditions, or 2.75 years, for anaerobic ones.

[@frequentlycynical642]

Just an FYI. Roundup does not hang around. It decomposes within a couple of days.

[@froschreiniger2639]

what a piece of shit, he came to the garden killed all the plants and poisoned the soil so that nothing will grow anymore.

[@asdasd-dx6hc]

My favorite edutainment channel with a focus on cooking

[@Nettsinthewoods]

Love figs,I’ve got five trees. I also love fig rolls and I have noticed a tad of crunchiness with them, but if its waspy that’s fine. Thank you, that was so interesting!

[@JohannGambolputty22]

I haven’t had a dog newton in many years and I literally can feel how crunchy they are. That’s crazy they don’t have seeds anymore! That crunchy texture was part of the experience.

[@jasonreed7522]

I find this interesting as growing up in the 2000s i never once experienced a crunchy fig newton and definitely would have been weirded out by one. I'm not opposed to the idea but its just not what i mentally expect from one.

[@JohannGambolputty22]

@Don Eli I was going to edit that, but now I can’t because I like your response. :)

[@alexcarter8807]

I remember the crunchy fig newtons in the late 60s maybe into the 1970s anyway, and the crunch was half of the fun. The delicious taste, and that crunch. Plus finding random seeds in my mouth later.

[@benrybczynski5798]

That's amazing! I was just helping my uncle pick figs earlier and I noticed little bugs on one that I assumed were just gnats, but maybe they were actually wasps!

[@TheQuota2001]

did you eat the bugs? that is what is most important

[@Snuzzled]

I'm so glad I watched this. I was always afraid of eating figs ever since I heard about the wasp thing, because I had seen a photo (maybe faked) of a fig cut in half with a massive wasp inside. I never wanted to bite into a fig and have that happen. Yet I did always love fig newtons and remember them being crunchy, too. Sad. Thanks for helping my brain get over my fear of figs.

[@Rob526]

Even if full wasps were in figs I would give no shit as long as the ratio is more than like 1 wasp per 20 figs

[@NoNORADon911]

''You will eat zee bugs'' World Economic Forum

[@katie7748]

​@@NoNORADon911 You will own nothing and you will be happy.

[@cliff5043]

The wasp that do fertilize the figs are very tiny. You almost need a magnifying glass to see them well. So, don't worry. But all figs in the US grown outside of southern California will not have any wasp.

[@anaz7603]

@@cliff5043 So Southern California kept its wasp pollinating fig trees?

[@OGSpacely555]

This was as informational as something I would learn in school or on the Discovery channel growing up back when it had educational programs.

[@exploshaun]

Very informative. Finally learned how figs work. Kinda wacky that nature evolved inverted flowers.

[@verabaked]

So glad you made this, I've been rambling about this to my friends since middle school. Definitely a hyper focus of mine and so glad to hear more about the lil wasps.

[@lua2wood]

you should hyperfocus on some b*tches

[@ThorTyrker]

Such a lucky situation: fig wasps don't live in my country but the figs are still riping - the rain does the job of fertilization, as I heard.

[@ploegdbq]

"If we took the dead wasps out it wouldn't be crunchy now would it"

[@lwcarr3879]

Ah yes -- featuring only the finest baby wasps, freshly flown from Iraq.... lightly killed...

[@doubledrats235]

I remember hearing Jean Shepherd tell this story on WOR radio in NYC in the 1970s about learning about wasps in figs from one of his teachers. It freaked me out when I heard this as a kid but I didn’t stop eating Fig Newtons because they were good.

[@caibarnett5093]

Adam Ragusea has entwred the Gizzverse

[@sushantkadam]

If a lot of people from the Jain community watches your video, they might yet another thing to add to their Do Not Eat list. Leaving us to enjoy this wonderful fruit!

[@jpe1]

I very much doubt that any of this is news to anyone in the Jain community. They already don’t eat fruits with seeds, and figs have sees, so figs are prohibited regardless of wasps or not.

[@needamuffin]

Growing up 25+ years ago, I don't ever remember Fig Newtons having seeds in them. Not that I ever ate particularly many of them, but I still distinctly remember the ones I did eat being chewy all the way through.

[@lightningkitten]

maybe the ones you ate came from a different farm or farms? i'm not sure where they're all sourced from and i'm not old enough to know what old fig newtons were like

[@TheQuota2001]

@@lightningkitten This person grew all the way up 25 years ago lmao you talking to a Ouija board bro lmaoooo its a zombie relived.

[@lightningkitten]

@@TheQuota2001 lmao

[@Albedo_vsp]

@@TheQuota2001 how old are your parents then? Are they too living zombies?

[@needamuffin]

@Forgotten Hope I'm squarely a millennial, not a zoomer. And 25 years is still more than enough time to make significant changes in a recipe. Adam isn't that much older than me, less than a decade.

[@lifesQnA]

Well now I know why I preferred the figs I had in Albania to the figs in the US. When I got figs in Albania they were also a little softer than the ones I've gotten in the US, idk why but I also prefer that texture, I think it's softer because it is more ripe than the ones in the US (it would make sense considering I got them from a random person selling figs on a beach) but idk.

[@jaredbush1866]

Completely unrelated; that is an absolutely beautiful fig tree. I'm actually jealous.

[@cyberherbalist]

My parents had a fig tree in our backyard when I was a kid. The figs were purple when ripe. I used to think that all figs were purple, because our tree was the only one I knew about. Now I know differently!

[@sonialam-karunaratna4135]

I'm a food scientist and wow i thought i knew alot about food, but Adam you are just next level knowledge

[@Dimension640]

I researched a bit about caprification, essentially it bear the name from the "caprifico" aka the wild fig, that doesn't make edible figs but is loved by wasps. It wasn't just done in that particular occasion, even if you have native figs but you have an hard time getting fruits you could hang some wild figs stems onto your cultivated one and voila you'll - hopefully - have ton of wasps on your tree. Ancient romans knew this thing already

[@OptimusPhillip]

On the subject of etymology, the "partheno-" in "parthenocarpic" is derived from the Greek "parthenos", meaning "virgin". Other terms from this root include "parthenogenesis", meaning when an animal conceives offspring without a mate, and Parthenon, the famous temple to Athena in Athens (because Athena, in addition to being the goddess of wisdom, battle strategy, and weaving, was also a virgin goddess.)

[@astrokits]

We finally have an answer to why my parent's fig tree isn't yielding any fruit at all. Thank you Adam!!

[@DireConsenquences]

Not all fig varieties need wasps. The ones that I have (Desert King) are self producers. They are very sweet and are also very hardy. Fig varieties that require wasps are not commonly sold in Canada.

[@sarahhardy8649]

Brit here, we used to call Garibaldi biscuits “dead fly biscuits” because that’s what the fruit looked like. Older kids told us they really were dead flies to gross us out, and we in turn, pretended to younger children when it was out time. Ah the power of peer pressure lol.

[@jamespatrick20906]

Hello 👋 I’m really impressed with your comment, if you don’t mind friendship please where are you from?

[@pithepieoverlord4861]

@@jamespatrick20906 I'm from hell

[@jeffro5032]

I have a very large 25' tall fig tree in the back , and I harvested about 180lbs of figs off it this year and gave them to a bunch of local people. By all the pictures I've seen it's either Calimyrna or Adriatic. My tree produced some the size of baseballs this season. It's become my baby / pet project. I need to learn to prune correctly. Hoping next season I can supply everyone with some great figs.

[@dieselgrandpa4181]

This was really cool, very interesting. Other than the crazy timelines that no human could ever know this was a super cool video. Thank you.

[@themiddlepath1516]

Nice video. Weirdly enough I knew a little bit about this process through King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard. They have a track called Big Fig Wasp. So I had to learn learn more from this video lol BIG FIG WASP!

[@MrBcardinal35]

As a hater of wasps, this makes me want to try figs more

[@Finwolven]

You don't hate all wasps, do you? I mean, it's understandable for the absolute B%¤#rds who seem to have a chip on their shoulder and murder in their eye, but harmless fig wasps, just going about their time, or the parasitic wasps that just remove moth larvae from the world? Why would you hate those, except on general principle of 'kin of my enemy'?

[@KC-Cyaneyed]

Thanks for the heads up, have probably only eaten like 5 fig newtons in my life, but will never eat another.

[@DarkGT]

Interesting. Never knew that. My Fig have seeds and crunch, but I haven't seen any fly or wasp being around it. I will pay more attention for the next year.

[@thecynicaloptimist1884]

Venus flytrap: "I am a terrifying carnivorous plant that devours insects!" Figs: "KNEEL BEFORE ME, YOU PANSY ASS SCRUB!"

[@AnimatorBlake]

I learned a lot from this video, though I knew the wasps were digested. Still never eating wasp figs again.

[@Pigzit]

The box of fig newtons I got 2 days ago still has seeds in them! Makes me wonder why yours doesn't. Cool video otherwise, thanks Adam

[@PureAsbestos]

To me, the most important part is that even if your fig had a wasp in it, it was dissolved and absorbed by the plant. People trying to ick you out usually leave that part off. It also means figs are kinda carnivorous plants which is interesting

[@cmo5807]

Did you catch how he says if its crunchy its got a wasp in it then immediately goes and says its not the actual wasp its a seed. That is so damn confusing I notice this guy makes tons of mistakes..... crazy he has so many subscribers oh well.

[@PureAsbestos]

@@cmo5807 I mean technically that's not a mistake, right? But I get where you're coming from.

[@darkhelmet12e47]

​@@cmo5807The crunch means there was a wasp, but the crunch is not from the wasp.

[@therealnambro]

this video is sponsored by multiple unskippable ads lol it's okay to plug squarespace, but also plug viewers like us we supporting you, homie! YOU WELCOME!

[@a2mann2]

Hi Adam have you noticed that figs ( like almonds and pineapples) alter your taste temporarily? Maybe you can do a show on why this happens and possibly how to work around it?

[@dannymac653]

Cool shirt! I never knew about the seeds as a child and remember enjoying the Fig Newtons until I hit that crunch and I nearly got sick from that. I really hated anything that would add a wet crunch in something with a smooth consistency (onions within something soft too). The kid version of myself would be excited for modern Fig Newtons. It wasn't until I was an adult that I had the opportunity to try a whole fig and was hitting that crunch to learn that's normal.

[@Darkmattermonkey77]

I knew there was a reason I stopped eating figs years ago. Thanks for sharing.

[@lilblkrose]

The tasty one is fertilized by wasps and the ones without wasps aren't as "tasty" due to lacking fertilized seed giving crunch. Sadge life for a Fig

[@DistractedDaisy]

I love figs.

[@nahor88]

I don't mind the wasp; figs make me shite like crazy, worse reason IMO. Eating bugs is considered normal in most of the civilized world.

[@I_am_nobody999]

@@nahor88 There's only one civilised world and that's Europe, and it's not considered normal there.

[@hans3331000]

I love how much of the world i know more about the more i watch these videos.

[@jackielinde7568]

Adam, I'm sad that you didn't state if you reached out to Nabisco to see if they would tell you if the figs they do use are the seedless variety or if they're just removing the seeds in production. I don't think this would be a trade secret, and there is no harm in asking.

[@jasonrusso9808]

I bought a box last night and it has seeds. Brand new box from Walmart, Transit road, Clarence NY.

[@robinesak7819]

I've always wondered what happened to the crunchy seeds in fig newtons.

[@pablohuarina2928]

Any wasp I see It's a fig wasp Pearly guillotine It's a fig wasp When the harvest's clean It's a fig wasp It's a winged machine It's a fig wasp

[@patrickharris7823]

Ficain eating corpses There's a hornet In my throooooooooooaaaat WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[@thegreattober]

Did your God know, insects grow in my pome? WHOOOOOOOOOOOO!

[@kalebk69420]

searched for this

[@znep2751]

BIG FIG WASP

[@crazywisdom]

Nonagon infinity opens the door!

[@winderps]

Clicked this so I could say I'm never eating figs again, actually watched the video and now I'm NEVER EVER eating figs again. Thanks Adam

[@sodamanthegr8]

Nobody has ever told me that figs have baby wasps in them and now I'll never unthink about it again.

[@gbparn]

Thanks for that info. I just heard that about the fig wasp earlier this month. I have a couple of fig trees and pretty sure they are partheno..whatchama-call-it varieties. They are only a couple of years old and we have only gotten a few figs off one of them so far. My wife wasn't going to eat them if they had wasp in them. So I had her watch your video and all she said at the end was "Why don't you rock some blue short shorts like Adam?" Still not going to eat the figs.

[@drea4195]

If you live in America, there are no fig wasps here naturally unless you import them as the fig farmers do here in Cali. So no, you are not eating wasp bits in your home grown fig trees.

[@loweffortproductions1985]

Fig wasp: Coincidentally a great snack AND a fantastic song from my favorite King Gizzard album

[@munjee2]

You know, when I first heard this fact, I started to wonder : if this means figs should be classified as carnivorous plants?

[@ChickentNug]

Wouldnt it be more of a decomposer than a carnivore? The wasp is already dead

[@munjee2]

@@ChickentNug I mean the animals that vultures eat are typically dead too, it feels different to me here since the wasp becomes a part of the fruit after, it gets digested

[@maythesciencebewithyou]

Most commercial figs don't need wasps

[@munjee2]

@@maythesciencebewithyou yes, but they have the ability to

[@FlatPlutoSociety]

I don't think so, because as I understand it, the fig just dissolves the dead wasp. I don't think the tree actually gets any nourishment from the wasp, so it's not exactly feeding on it.

[@supinearcanum]

I feel like it would be easy to test that theory on whether the ancient fig was human raised or not. They could sequence its genes and then start comparing it to other parthenogenic fig trees around the world to see if they get a match since if their theory is that it's made from clippings, and clippings are just little clones of the parent, if that tree continued to be used then there's a chance that it's genes are still floating around in the parthenogenic agricultural population.

[@benjaminshepard]

I laughed out loud at 6:47, with the photo caption (and additional chuckles from the facing page). I have to wonder whether the journal staff got the profound sense of satisfaction I'm sure I would have experienced in laying out that page...how many of them never had another chance in their careers to include an actual photo of a fig as Fig. 1? (And also, apparently, figs. S1-S3 and S5.)

[@Some.Canadian]

I can thank King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard for reminding and drilling this knowledge into my mind fuzz.

[@ThatGenericCanadian]

Honestly anytime I hear about wasps in figs I instantly have Fig Wasp stuck in my head. Any wasp I see, it’s a fig wasp… Also nice username!

[@apmoy70]

Dried figs are amazing, we dry them cut in half and are sold here everywhere. BTW in Greek the name of fig in plural resembles the most common Russian swear word (which makes every Russian I know, giggle)

[@seanfan1500]

I just saw some Newtons at my local small grocery. Still seedy!

[@bfc9467]

Never knew this, but now I feel vindicated in my hatred of figs.

[@baconerd4490]

I eat Smyrna dried figs pretty much every day and probably 1 out of every 20 has crunchy seeds in it. I always thought it was just dirt and it honestly feels pretty terrible, leaves a sandy feeling in the mouth

[@Mightbeabirb]

I’ve heard some theologians claim that the “forbidden fruit” mentioned in the Abrahamic religions is actually a fig, not an apple as most people think. In this video, you mentioning the possibility of figs being the first crop made me think of this.

[@n0ame1u1]

About 2000 years ago, in the midrash, the rabbis discussed what the fruit might have been. The opinions presented are: [1] wheat, [2] grapes, [3] etrog (cirton), or [4] figs

[@davfar459]

As someone who's eaten raw figs straight off a tree in Louisiana during the summer, this was very interesting to learn about. Lol

[@DJMerck]

Crazy thing is if you have eaten figs off of a tree in America it's almost a guarantee that it was not pollinated by wasp because almost all of our fig trees in America are self-pollinating. This guy just used a clickbait title and did not acknowledge that the pollinating fig trees or way more rare than what we have here in America. You can order one and grow it if you choose but I don't see why when we have the abundance of self-pollinating figs here.

[@Whimpish]

@@DJMerck He does more than acknowledge it at about 4:11 and onwards. The very tree he is standing under is a fig tree with parthenocarpic figs that he states he grew for the purpose of the video. You must not have watched very far in.

[@DelusionalMoron]

@@DJMerck except they aren't self-pollinating, fig pollen is only found in the male fig (caprifig). the fig varieties that don't need pollination do not produce viable seeds.

[@DJMerck]

@@DelusionalMoron ficus carica, are self-pollinating. The fact that you stated this so incorrectly proves all of your information has come from KZbin and maybe Facebook. But good attempt though. There are some that are pollinated through wasp but there are many that do not need a wasp whatsoever and I actually know this as an absolute fact because I have different varieties growing and we sell them every year. A little real research "not on KZbin" would probably benefit you a good deal.

[@DelusionalMoron]

@@DJMerck I have grown figs for a good part of my life and am part of a fig growing community, so no - my information is not from youtube. If figs were actually self-pollinating, then you'd see wild figs growing everywhere like you do in California. Try taking one of the seeds from the figs you grow and try getting it to germinate. You will not be able to. This is the reason why a lot of serious fig growers keep a caprifig, so they can hand pollinate to breed new trees by seed.

[@Hunter-po8jy]

I was just thinking about if figs are considered vegetarian/vegan the other day while eating them lol. Interesting video Adam

[@JamesSerapio]

Well... There's a way now to ruin one's friendship with a vegan or a way to attempt converting them. 🙃

[@Cmallon81]

Some vegans will not eat them because of this. But to me this is silly. It is not like the grower is shoving the wasp inside. It is just a natural process.

[@riveteye93]

​@@Cmallon81 unfortunately, silliness and veganism go hand in hand. Nothing against vegetarians, but veganism is unhealthy and misguided, in my opinion, and it's well informed.

[@user-op8fg3ny3j]

@@riveteye93 💯

[@treksez]

@@riveteye93 pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19562864/ Sorry but you're straight wrong, Vegan diets are proven healthy and perfectly fine for long term consumption. I'm unsure what you mean by misguided, however they are drastically better for the environment and perfectly fine healthwise.

[@richardmorse7396]

Commercial organic dried figs can and usually do have carpophilus sp beetles, their larvae, feces, and potential fungus that has colonized the whole mess. You can check by splitting each fig open. The beetles and poo pellets are easy to identify, as well as the web like fungus. Eating insect chitin is not healthy and can cause food allergies/sensitivities, not to mention the fungi that may complicate this process even further.

[@InnocuousRemark]

0:40 "figs just bee like this." False. Figs wasp like that.