Editing Ficus macrophylla (section)

==Ecology==
[[File:San Diego, CA USA - Balboa Park - panoramio (6).jpg|thumb|Large [[Moreton Bay fig (Balboa Park)|Moreton Bay fig]] tree in [[Balboa Park, San Diego]]]]
The huge numbers of fruit produced by the Moreton Bay fig make it a key source of food in the rainforest.<ref name=EJ15/> It is an important food to the [[green catbird]] (''Ailuroedus crassirostris''),<ref name = Innis92>{{cite journal | last1 = Innis | first1 = Gary John| last2=McEvoy | first2=Jim | year = 1992| title = Feeding ecology of green catbirds (''Ailuroedus crassirostris'') in subtropical rainforests of south-eastern Queensland | journal = Wildlife Research| volume = 19| pages = 317–29 | doi = 10.1071/WR9920317 | issue = 3}}</ref> as well as fruit-eating pigeons such as the [[wompoo fruit-dove]] (''Ptilinopus magnificus''), and [[topknot pigeon]] (''Lopholaimus antarcticus''), and a sometime food of the [[rose-crowned fruit-dove]] (''Ptilinopus regina'').<ref name = Innis89>{{cite journal | last = Innis | first = Gary John| year = 1989| title = Feeding Ecology of Fruit Pigeons in Subtropical Rainforests of Southeast Queensland| journal = Australian Wildlife Research| volume = 16| pages = 365–94 | doi = 10.1071/WR9890365 | issue = 4}}</ref> Other bird species that eat the fruit include the [[yellow-eyed cuckoo-shrike]] (''Coracina lineata''), [[pied currawong]] (''Strepera graculina''), [[Australasian figbird]] (''Sphecotheres vieilloti''), [[Regent bowerbird]] (''Sericulus chrysocephalus''), [[satin bowerbird]] (''Ptilonorhynchus violaceus''), and [[Lewin's honeyeater]] (''Meliphaga lewinii'').<ref name="Floyd09">{{cite book|last=Floyd|first=Alex G.|title=Rainforest Trees of Mainland Southeastern Australia|publisher=Terania Rainforest Publishing|location=Lismore, New South Wales|year=2009|pages=231–32|isbn=978-0-9589436-7-3}}</ref> [[Megabats|Fruit bats]] such as the [[grey-headed flying-fox]] (''Pteropus poliocephalus'') also feed on the fruit.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.sydneybats.org.au/cms/index.php?id=11,60,0,0,1,0 |title=Diet Species of the Grey-headed Flying-fox in the Sydney Region |last=Eby. |first=P. |publisher=Ku-ring-gai Bat Conservation Society Inc. |access-date=3 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090914220519/http://www.sydneybats.org.au/cms/index.php?id=11%2C60%2C0%2C0%2C1%2C0 |archive-date=14 September 2009 }}</ref> As well as the pollinating [[fig wasp]], ''[[Pleistodontes froggatti]]'', [[syconium|syconia]] of the Moreton Bay fig are host to several species of non-pollinating [[chalcid wasp|chalcidoid wasps]] including ''[[Sycoscapter australis]]'' ([[Pteromalidae]]), ''[[Eukobelea hallami]]'' ([[Sycophaginae]]), and ''[[Meselatus]]'' sp. ([[Epichrysomallinae]]).<ref name = Bean2001>{{cite journal | last1 = Bean | first1 = Daniel | last2 = Cook | first2 = James M. | year = 2001 | title = Male mating tactics and lethal combat in the nonpollinating fig wasp ''Sycoscapter australis'' | journal = Animal Behaviour | volume = 62 | issue = 3 | pages = 535–42 | doi = 10.1006/anbe.2001.1779 | s2cid = 53202910 }}</ref> The [[nematode]] species ''[[Schistonchus macrophylla]]'' and ''[[Schistonchus altermacrophylla]]'' are found in the syconia, where they parasitise ''P. froggattii''.<ref>{{cite journal | first1=Janine | last1= Lloyd | first2= Kerrie A. | last2=Davies | year= 1997| title= Two new species of ''Schistonchus'' (Tylenchida: Aphelenchoididae) associated with ''Ficus macrophylla'' from Australia | journal=Fundamental and Applied Nematology| volume= 20| issue=1| pages=79–86 | url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/260980685 }}</ref>

The [[thrips]] species ''[[Gynaikothrips australis]]'' feeds on the underside of new leaves of ''F. macrophylla'', as well as those of ''F. rubiginosa'' and ''F. obliqua''. As plant cells die, nearby cells are induced into forming [[meristem]] tissue and a [[gall]] results and the leaves become distorted and curl over.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tree|first=Desley J.|last2=Walter|first2=G. H.|date=2009|title=Diversity of host plant relationships and leaf galling behaviours within a small genus of thrips –Gynaikothrips and Ficus in south east Queensland, Australia|url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1440-6055.2009.00706.x|journal=Australian Journal of Entomology|language=en|volume=48|issue=4|pages=269–275|doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.2009.00706.x|issn=1440-6055}}</ref> The thrips begin feeding when the tree has flushes of new growth, and the life cycle is around six weeks. At other times, thrips reside on old leaves without feeding. The species pupates sheltered in the bark. The thrips remain in the galls at night and wander about in the daytime and return in the evening, possibly to different galls about the tree.<ref name="tree09">{{cite journal|title=Diversity of host plant relationships and leaf galling behaviours within a small genus of thrips –''Gynaikothrips'' and ''Ficus'' in south east Queensland, Australia|author1=Tree, Desley J |author2=Walter, G. H. |journal=Australian Journal of Entomology |volume=48| issue=4 | pages=269–75|year=2009|doi=10.1111/j.1440-6055.2009.00706.x}}</ref>

Stressed trees can also be attacked by [[psyllids]] to the point of defoliation. Grubs hatch from eggs laid on the edges of leaves and burrow into the leaf to suck nutrients, the tree's latex shielding the insect.<ref name=Benson1997/> Caterpillars of the moth species ''[[Lactura caminaea]]'' ([[Lacturidae]]) can strip trees of their leaves.<ref name=Benson1997/> The tree is also a host for the [[longhorn beetle]] (Cerambycidae) species ''[[Agrianome spinicollis]]''.<ref name=Benson1997/> The fungal pathogen brown root rot (''[[Phellinus noxius]]'') has infected and killed this species.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.northerntreecare.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Brown-Root-Rot.pdf | title=Brown Root Rot | first=Peter | last=Gray | date=2017 | access-date=20 April 2018 | archive-date=17 March 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180317161005/http://www.northerntreecare.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Brown-Root-Rot.pdf | url-status=dead }}</ref>

===Reproduction and life span===
[[File:Pleistodontes froggatti female.jpg|thumb|right|''[[Pleistodontes froggatti]]'', the [[fig wasp]] that pollinates the Moreton Bay fig]]
Figs have an obligate [[Mutualism (biology)|mutualism]] with fig wasps (Agaonidae); figs are pollinated only by fig wasps, and fig wasps can reproduce only in fig flowers. Generally, each fig species depends on a single species of wasp for pollination. The wasps are similarly dependent on their fig species to reproduce. The mainland and Lord Howe populations of the Moreton Bay fig are both pollinated by ''[[Pleistodontes froggatti]]''.<ref name=dixon01/><ref name = Vaamonde2002>{{cite journal | last = Lopez-Vaamonde | first = Carlos |author2=Dale J. Dixon |author3=James M. Cook |author4=Jean-Yves Rasplus | year = 2002 | title = Revision of the Australian species of ''Pleistodontes'' (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) fig-pollinating wasps and their host-plant associations | journal = Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society | volume = 136 | issue = 4 | pages = 637–83 | doi = 10.1046/j.1096-3642.2002.00040.x | doi-access = free }}</ref>

As is the case with all figs, the fruit is an inverted [[inflorescence]] known as a [[syconium]], with tiny flowers arising from the inner surface.<ref name=Fairley/> ''Ficus macrophylla'' is [[Plant reproductive morphology#Terminology|monoecious]]—both male and female flowers are found on the same plant, and, in fact, in the same fruit, although they mature at different times. Female wasps enter the syconium and lay eggs in the female flowers as they mature. These eggs later hatch and the progeny mate. The females of the new generation collect pollen from the male flowers, which have matured by this point, and leave to visit other syconia and repeat the process. A field study in Brisbane found that ''F. macrophylla'' trees often bore both male and female syconia at the same time—which could be beneficial for reproduction in small, isolated populations such as those on islands. The same study found that male phase syconia development persisted through the winter, showing that its wasp pollinator tolerated cooler weather than those of more tropical fig species. ''F. macrophylla'' itself can endure cooler climates than other fig species.<ref name=mcpherson05>{{Cite journal | last1 = McPherson | first1 = John R. | title = Phenology of Six ''Ficus'' L., Moraceae, Species and its Effects on Pollinator Survival, in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia | doi = 10.1111/j.1745-5871.2005.00329.x | journal = Geographical Research | volume = 43 | issue = 3 | pages = 297–305 | year = 2005 }}</ref> Moreton Bay fig trees live for over 100 years in the wild.<ref name=Benson1997/>

===Potentially invasive species===
[[File:MoretonBayNaturalisedNZ.jpg|thumb|right|A young Moreton Bay fig starts life as an epiphyte in an [[Auckland]], New Zealand, park]]
''Ficus macrophylla'' is commonly cultivated in [[Hawaii]] and northern [[New Zealand]]. In both places, it has now [[Introduced species|naturalised]], having acquired its pollinating wasp (''Pleistodontes froggatti''). In Hawaii, the wasp was deliberately introduced in 1921, and in New Zealand it was first recorded in 1993, having arrived by long-distance dispersal from Australia. The arrival of the wasp led to prolific production of fruits containing many small seeds adapted for dispersal by birds. The Moreton Bay fig has been found growing on both native and introduced trees in New Zealand and Hawaii. The size and vigour of this fig in New Zealand, and its lack of natural enemies, as well as its immunity to [[common brushtail possum|possum]] browsing, indicate that it may be able to invade forest and other native plant communities.<ref name = Starr2003/><ref name=Gardner1996>{{cite journal | last = Gardner | first = Rhys O. | author2 = John W. Early | year = 1996 | title = The naturalisation of banyan figs (''Ficus'' spp., Moraceae) and their pollinating wasps (Hymenoptera: Agaonidae) in New Zealand | journal = New Zealand Journal of Botany | volume = 34 | pages = 103–10 | url = http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/115.php | doi = 10.1080/0028825x.1996.10412697 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20080719032605/http://www.rsnz.org/publish/nzjb/1996/115.php | archive-date = 19 July 2008 }}</ref> Occasional [[garden escape]]es have been recorded in Turkey.<ref>{{cite journal | title= Alien flora of Turkey: checklist, taxonomic composition and ecological attributes | first1=Ahmet |last1= Uludag| first2= Necmi |last2= Aksoy| first3= Ayşe |last3=Yazlık| first4=Zubeyde Filiz |last4=Arslan| first5=Efecan |last5=Yazmış| first6=Ilhan |last6=Uremis| first7=Tiziana Antonella |last7=Cossu| first8=Quentin |last8=Groom| first9=Jan |last9=Pergl| first10=Petr |last10=Pyšek| first11=Giuseppe |last11= Brundu | journal=NeoBiota | volume=35 | pages=61–85 | doi=10.3897/neobiota.35.12460 | year=2017 | doi-access=free }}</ref>