[3] These wasps breed in figs without the need for a colony or nest, and the adults live for only a few days or weeks.

[4] Because B. psenes relies on Ficus carica to breed, it is found in regions where this fig species grows.

The wasp is native to the Palaearctic, including Southern Europe near the Mediterranean Basin.

These wasps lay fertilized eggs in female flowers of the syconium of a F. carica fig.

The larvae become adults around the same time that male fig flowers are ready to produce pollen.

This is beneficial for wasps which do not have very long ovipositors and can only parasitize ovaries of female flowers with short styles found only on male trees.

[4] Therefore, wasps cannot parasitize these ovaries because their ovipositors are too short to reach the bottom of the syconium.

[4] There is also a difference in winter and spring caprifigs (male figs) and their availability to receive eggs and become pollinated.

The spring and winter caprifigs have a life cycle related to each other as to maximize resources and output of figs and wasps.

[5] Figs in their receptive phase emit a compound called pentane that can attract B. psenes from at least 5 meters away.

Before entering, the wasps will assess the fig by holding up their heads and antennae next to the opening of the syconium (the ostiole—where the actual attractive substances come from).

[citation needed] Males emerge first from their cocoon and begin searching for females to mate with.

The enlarged opening enables the females to leave the syconium in search of a new one in which to oviposit.

Later, the female lays its eggs in the ovaries of another fig by sticking its ovipositor in each flower's style.

Each larva from a deposited egg destroys a female flower when it feeds on its growing seed.

This rush creates a large number of wasps all competing to enter an adjacent syconium.

Due to this rush, pollination will become less effective as more pollen falls off of the wasp bodies.

[7] Also, reproductive success depends heavily on transmission of strong signals by plant.

When a B. psenes wasp oviposits her egg inside the syconium, nematodes are also deposited.

After fertilization, females emerge from a syconium with nematodes still in hemocoel along with pollen flakes along her body.

[1] B. psenes also is sometimes associated with, Philotrypesis caricae, a non-fig pollinating wasp, which is sometimes referred to as a kleptoparasite of B.

Larvae of P. caricae also eat the galled fig tissue, so it is not clear if this interaction is a true kleptoparasitic relationship.

Wasps who were higher up in the tree or further out on a branch also showed more fungus on their wings and bodies.

This led to the conclusion that contamination increases as the wasps walk on leaves, petioles, and fruits before they reach the opening to the syconium.