Could bats be also spreading fig wasps? Insights into the occurrence of agaonid wasps (Hymenoptera) in guano samples and litter baits from Caves of Burdeos, Polillo Island, Philippines

Ireneo Lit, Jr.; John Mark Encinares; Cristian Lucañas

Ireneo L. Lit, Jr. Environmental Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
John Mark A. Encinares Environmental Biology Division, Institute of Biological Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines
Cristian C. Lucañas Entomology Section, Museum of Natural History, University of the Philippines Los Baños, College, Laguna, Philippines

Keywords: Agaonidae, cave litter-baits, Ficus, fig wasps, fruit bat guano

Abstract

The occurrence of live winged and wingless fig wasps in guano and litter baits from caves, based on a review of published and unpublished data sets, is highlighted. The study postulates that tritrophic interactions involving figs, fig wasps, and fruit bats are common among forests, especially in karst areas, but poorly documented or studied. Within such interactions, the role of fruit bats as dispersers of pollinating fig wasps aside from fig seeds, albeit consequential, helps ensure the continuity of these ecosystem processes and the health of forests. The occurrence of fig wasps in cave guano makes them vagrants or accidentals under the trogloxene classification of cave organisms. Nevertheless, accidentals are important contributions to the food chain in the cave floor communities.