EXCEPTIONS TO THE ONE ONE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN AFRICAN FIG TREES AND THEIR FIG WASP POLLINATORS - POSSIBLE EVOLUTIONARY SCENARIOS/

The mutualistic breeding system involving fig trees (Moraceae, Ficus) and fig wasps (Hymenoptera, Chalcidoidea, Agaoninae) would appear so s pecialized that one may wonder at the evolutionary processes that coul d be responsible for the existence of about 750 species-specific assoc iations. In this paper we present data concerning two cases of species specificity breakdown between African fig trees and fig wasps. We the n analyse the possible evolutionary scenarios which could be responsib le, as well as the possible evolutionary outcomes of the observed situ ations. Our analyses range in scale from continental to habitats, and fig crops to individual figs (syconia). Habitat shifts and ecological barriers seem to be the more likely explanations for the evolution of novel fig tree-fig wasp associations, but sympatric and parapatric sce narios cannot be ruled out.