Abstract
Historically the circumscription of Agaonidae has varied considerably. Currently Agaonidae includes only species that are obligate pollinators (active or passive) of Ficus species (Moraceae), having coevolved with their host figs in an 80-million-year-old mutualism. Fig wasp pollinators display marked sexual dimorphism, with males always apterous, often blind, and with a highly modified mesosoma, all of which are adaptations to their lifestyle as adults that only live for a few hours, mostly confined within their natal fig cavity. Their only function is to mate with females and chew an exit hole through the fig wall, allowing the females to exit and disperse. Females are always winged, and also exhibit extreme morphological adaptations enabling them to negotiate the fig ostiole to implement pollination and oviposition. The family has a pantropical distribution and comprises 380 described species in 21 genera and four subfamilies (Agaoninae, Blastophaginae, Kradibiinae, Tetrapusinae), with an estimated true richness of about 1700 species.