ABSTRACT
Fig tree pollination is a really sticky situation. Most flowering plants make big, colorful blossoms that act like neon signs to bumblebees and other pollinators, but the petals of fig tree flowers are trapped inside their sticky, oozy, and non-neon figs. During the mating battle, the biggest and most aggressive males get the most mates, but smaller male bees, called minors, have an interesting strategy. Instead of going into battle, they wait on the edges of the mating make it out of the brawl without mating. Each August or September (winter in the southern hemisphere), the males prepare for an intense few days of frantically finding partners, mating, and fighting with other males who have similar ideas. Each animal has a lot at stake—namely, passing on its genes to future generations—so the males go all-out in their search for love.
