A substance in the fig attracts a female wasp which crawls into the fruit and lays eggs, the female wasp dies inside the fig and is absorbed by the fruit along with the eggs. At the same time, the fig gets pollinated.

Figs are then not vegetarian as they contain insects in the form of one or more wasps.

This is important to know in case a guest who is vegan orders a salad, and the salad contains figs.

Some figs that are not grown in the wild are pollinated by hand by humans, but there is no guarantee that no wasps have entered anyway.