Planet Ficus Monthly Roundup #8
Snakebite remedies. Aphrodisiac figs. A giant bonsai. Pests in a changing climate. A Brazilian treehouse. A golden Buddha. Edison's fig trees.
Welcome to the Planet Ficus Monthly Roundup
Each month, I’ll bring you stories from around the world that reveal just how extraordinary fig trees are — not just biologically, but culturally, spiritually and artistically.
In this roundup, featuring news from December 2025, you’ll find: stingless bees nesting in urban figs in Thailand, figs versus snakebites, a Vietnamese bonsai with a record-breaking canopy, research suggesting climate change could reshape fig–pest relationships, planting fig trees to restore degraded land in India, aphrodisiac figs in Nigeria, and more.
Let’s dive in.
Ecology and Biodiversity of Fig-Associated Animals
Three new studies reinforce how fig trees are connected to many other species, even in urban settings.
Researchers found 78 species of insects, spiders and other arthropods associated with fig trees (Ficus carica) in an orchard in Algeria.
In Taiwan, researchers showed that fig trees are an important resource for urban fruit-eating birds — and especially for introduced bird species which are already familiar with figs from their native countries.
Stingless bees are important pollinators in tropical regions. New research shows that, in urban areas of southern Thailand, large fig trees — including Ficus microcarpa, Ficus religiosa and Ficus annulata — are among the top nesting sites for these bees.
Outstanding Specimens
An article by Ngoc Phuc brought to my attention a record-breaking fig tree in Vietnam. The Ficus benjamina is the largest-canopied bonsai tree of its kind in the country and has been carefully trained into shape since 1890. You can find it at the Sa Dec Bonsai Museum in Dong Thap province.
The Edison and Ford Winter Estates in Fort Myers, Florida marked the festive season by illuminating two special fig trees planted in 1927. One is a banyan (Ficus benghalensis). The other is a Ficus drupacea. Both are trees that interested Thomas Edison because — like all figs — they produce latex, and he wanted to find plants that could be used to develop rubber plantations in the United States. Today, they are both towering giants.
Fig Pests and Climate
As fig trees face rising temperatures, researchers are beginning to ask how climate change will reshape their relationships with pests.
Drought may make Ficus microcarpa fig trees more susceptible to their main insect pests — the larvae of moths called Perina nuda, say researchers in China.
Another major pest of fig trees is the fig mite (Aceria ficus). This species of tiny arachnid not only damages leaves of the edible fig (Ficus carica) trees as it feeds, but also transmits the virus that causes fig mosaic disease. In new research published in December, scientists in Iran showed that the mites reproduce and develop faster as temperatures rise from 22 to 30°C. This suggests that global warming could benefit the mites and significantly reduce fig yield and quality on infected trees.
Planting and Praising Fig Trees in India
The latest episode of the ‘Jungle Book’ nature series hosted by Samruddhi Kerkar focuses on the banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis) and has some great footage of gigantic specimens of this species. The narration is in the Goan language but the visuals are universal. You can watch the video here.
India’s minister of home affairs Amit Shah says everyone should be planting fig trees. “Everyone should take a pledge to serve nature and plant at least five peepal trees [Ficus religiosa],” he said on 25 December. Shah added that these trees “provide the most oxygen” — a common misconception linked to the way this species can absorb carbon dioxide at night. As regular readers of Planet Ficus will know, there are far better reasons to plant fig trees.
Several species of wild fig trees feature in reforestation work funded by Volvo Car India, which has announced it is supporting the planting of 20,000 native trees on degraded land in Haryana state. The initiative is part of Volvo’s Reverse Project, which has already planted 35,000 trees on a former dump site in the city of Ghaziabad in Uttar Pradesh state. The project uses Ficus benghalensis, Ficus religiosa, Ficus racemosa and Ficus virens — which will attract and sustain a wide variety of seed dispersing animals.
Figs in Faith and Spirituality
In Chhattisgarh, India, villagers launched a protective vigil after someone cut branches from their sacred, centuries-old banyan tree (Ficus benghalensis). “Our gods and goddesses dwell in the sacred banyan tree of the village,” said local man Hirdhan Rajwade. “If its branches are felled, where will our gods and goddesses go? How will our lives continue without them?”
One hundred sacred fig trees (Ficus religiosa) will be planted on a hill near the Bhairavnath Temple in Gudarh in the Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, according to the state’s deputy chief minister Rajendra Shukla. Planting a Ficus religiosa — also called a peepal tree — in the temple’s grounds, he quoted the Hindu deity Krishna: “Among trees, I am the peepal.”
I am quoted in this article by Liz Kimbrough about a recent study showing how a taboo against harming strangler fig spirits protects forests in Indonesian Borneo.
On 29 December, hundreds of Buddhist leaders and devotees gathered at the top of a mountain in Vietnam to enshrine a new statue of the Buddha. The gold-plated statue, on Ba Den mountain in Tay Ninh province, depicts the Buddha holding a fig in one hand, to represent the tree (Ficus religiosa) under which he attained enlightenment. A decades-old living tree of the same species stands alongside the statue.
Creative Minds
Artisans in Uganda held an annual gathering to showcase the traditional craft of making cloth from the bark of Ficus natalensis fig trees. See also my Planet Ficus story on this useful biomaterial, which has survived a history of suppression by religion, colonialism and war.
A farmer in Brazil has built a house high above the ground in a huge old fig tree. Working by night after spending each day tending to his tobacco fields, Silvino Kniss had no architectural plans or experience. Instead, he took inspiration from images he found on the internet as he designed the structure, complete with bathroom, living room and balcony.
Medicinal Figs
Three new studies echo a familiar pattern: modern science catching up with medicinal knowledge that communities have long held.
Researchers in Assam, India showed that an extract of the bark of Ficus racemosa trees can neutralize enzymes in the venom of two of the country’s deadliest snakes: the Indian cobra and Russell’s viper. Local people told the researchers that they have long used the fig species in traditional remedies for snakebites.
Scientists in Brazil showed that extracts of Ficus citrifolia leaves have significant activity against the mosquito-borne viruses that cause Zika, Chikungunya and Mayaro diseases.
Researchers in Nigeria showed that extracts of Ficus platyphylla bark increased sexual behaviour in female rats — suggesting that people’s traditional use of the plant as an aphrodisiac is not unreasonable.
In Case You Missed It
Here at Planet Ficus, I answered a question I am often asked: Is it true that the figs we eat contain dead wasps?
I also shared an interview I did a while back with Michael Metivier of Chelsea Green Publishing— which published my book: Gods, Wasps and Stranglers.
Over To You
Do you have a memory, photo, or observation involving fig trees? I’d love to hear from you. Send your story or image to planetficus@substack.com — I’ll feature selected entries in future editions.
Thank you for reading
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