Fig–Wasp Lifecycle Lab

A toy coevolution simulator: foundress wasps squeeze into figs, pollinate vs lay eggs, figs sanction cheaters, and traits drift together (ostiole↔head, style↔ovipositor, sanction↔cooperation).

Environment

Evolution

Actions

Cheaters push wasps toward low pollination (more eggs, less service).
Storm increases abortion risk for one generation.

Graph

Lines show population means over recent generations.

How to Play

  • Watch the lifecycle loop: foundresses arrive → squeeze in → pollinate/lay eggs → larvae/mating → daughters disperse.
  • Turn up Fig sanctions to punish low-pollination strategies (but too much can abort figs and crash both populations).
  • Increase Pathogen pressure to make wide ostioles costly, selecting for tighter fig entrances (and smaller-headed wasps).
  • Use Introduce Cheaters to test whether the mutualism is resilient.
  • Try to keep both Seeds and Daughters flowing without triggering mass abortion or a squeeze mismatch.