Figs Have "Eyes" Important for Excluding Some Insects

Q. I opened my fig fruits and there are ants inside and the fruit is rotting from the inside out.

A. Fig fruits have a small roundish opening on the bottom called the “eye”. Sometimes this eye is open and sometimes it’s closed depending on the variety of the fig. Figs that have “open” eyes allow entry of insects inside the fruit which can cause problems like premature softening, an off taste or souring of the fruit. Fig fruits that have “closed eyes” have fewer problems for home growers than those with “open eyes”.

"Eyes" of the fig. The fig on the left has an open "eye" while the one on the right is closed. The open "eye" can allow insects to crawl inside the fruit, like the dried fruit beetle which can cause "souring" of the fruit.

            Ants have been exploring your fig tree and now have found the “open eye “ of your fruit. As this fruit becomes sweeter, the ants have more reason to visit it. Ants carry plant diseases with them from fruit to fruit. They can transfer bacteria or fungi that cause fruit rotting to the inside of your figs.

            Either exclude or kill the ants by applying an insecticide or physically block them from getting to the fruit. Look at products such as Tanglefoot and eliminate routes the ants might use to reach the fruit. Once they find a way around an obstacle, they all will know how to do it in a short period of time.