Wasps give hope for vanishing tree species

LEEDS, England, Nov. 11 (UPI) -- British scientists say they've found fig wasps can travel about 100 miles in fewer than 48 hours, transporting pollen 10 times farther than any other insect.

University of Leeds scientists said fig wasps travel such distances in search of trees to lay their eggs -- and that offers hope that trees pollinated by similar creatures have a good chance of surviving if they become isolated through deforestation.

"Fig trees provide very important food for vertebrates," said Stephen Compton of the University's Faculty of Biological Sciences. "More birds and animals feed on fig trees than on any other plant in the rainforest. Our research shows that trees pollinated by this type of insect should be very resistant to forest fragmentation."

Compton said the wasps, as adults, live for just 48 hours and must travel the distances incredibly quickly.

"It took our field scientists and volunteers nearly two weeks to walk 250 kilometers (155 miles) and map the fig trees used in the research," Compton said.

The findings appear in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.