If by 'happy accident' you mean a very long process of natural selection manifesting in something amounting to an evolutionary 'arms race' between the fig and the wasp, then yes. It was a happy accident.
Richard Dawkins uses the fig wasp as an example of evolution and natural selection. If you enjoyed that documentary, I highly recommend
Climbing Mount Improbable. Not only does it show very clearly how that happened, but it also gives a bunch of other really fucking freaky examples too :p
Here's a quick explanation from a piece abot the 'dangers of evolution' by someone else, but drawing from Mount Improbable:
Quote:
The story of figs and wasps is very interesting and one that is explained and illuminated quite well in Climbing Mount Improbable. One of the things he draws attention to is that all nine hundred species of fig have their own unique species of wasp. Each fig species have evolved through time in conjunction with a particular wasp. (You could say it the other way round. Each species of wasp has evolved with a particular fig as its counterpart.) This evolutionary partnership has had tremendous benefits for both the wasp and the fig.
The wasp needs a source of food and a place to lay her eggs. In the distant past when there was only one fig and one wasp species, competition was fierce. Over time new fig and wasp species appeared and as the wasp population became divided between those that used one kind of fig and those that used another, competition for food and space lessened.
As yet more species of each evolved, the competition decreased even more, until the wasp and the fig arrived at their present situation where each species of wasp feeds and lays her eggs in just one species of fig tree that is unique to that wasp species. Competition is still there but it is much less than it was all those aeons ago. Natural selection has done its bit. By pairing wasps and figs together it has helped the wasps fill niches that are particular to its species. The figs have also benefited from this arrangement, as they no longer have to compete with other fig species, or indeed other flowering plants for pollinators. This has meant that they no longer have to waste huge amounts of energy in producing garish advertisements; they have a captive market.
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https://homepages.westminster.org.uk...evolution.html