Fig Wasps

Truly the Sad Keanu of the insect world, the male fig wasp never gets to venture beyond his tiny home. Born from eggs laid inside flowers within the fleshy, hollow receptacle of a fig, the male wasps have but one purpose in their short lives: to procreate. While the winged black female wasp matures inside a female flower, the wingless amberbodied male crawls feebly toward her. He bites a small hole through the flowers ovarian barrier that separates him from his chosen lady, and through the opening, he modestly inseminates the unsuspecting female. He does this with every female he can possibly lay his tiny eyes upon. Postcopulation, the sexes separate to perform their individual tasks. While the female scrapes pollen from anthers, our male fig wasp works side by side with his buddies for hours to dig escape tunnels. The female then flies away, leaving her liberators to die, wingless and alone.