Besides the pollinators there is a suite of non-pollinating fig wasps that also breed in the fig, but which play no role in the pollination process. From the fig’s perspective they are unwanted interlopers. In Africa, as many as 30 species of non-pollinating fig wasp can be associated with a particular fig tree species, as in Ficus thonningii, but more commonly three to fifteen species are associated with each fig species. One group of non-pollinators also enter the fig for egg-laying, and exhibit parallel morphological adaptations to those of the pollinators for easing their passage through the ostiole. Most of the non-pollinators, however, lay eggs by inserting their ovipositor through the fig wall from the outside of the fig. These wasps often have extremely long “tails” (external ovipositors)  the length of which has been evolutionarily determined by wall thickness of their host fig species. Fig size varies tremendously across species, and ranges from smaller than a marble to as large as a tennis ball.

SYCOECINAE: Philocaenus a gall forming non-pollinator that enters the fig through the ostiole to lay eggs.

OTITESELLINAE: Otitesella a gall forming non-pollinator that lays eggs through the fig wall. The ovipositor is concealed within the abdomen.

SYCORYCTINAE: Parasitoid or inquiline non-pollinators that lay eggs through the fig wall.