I just wanted to share this information. My figs are often ant-infested. I wouldn't mind it, the ants give the fig a little extra crunchiness and 'bite', but they also seem to carry fungus or bacteria. My ant-infested figs often spoil just when they ripen.

This time of year I wrap the fig trunks with a strip of plastic and apply Tanglefoot to the plastic. The plastic is a little stretchy, so does not girdle the trunk. I use plastic food bags that I cut into 2 inch-wide strips. I wrap about a foot above ground level.

I don't apply tanglefoot directly to the trunk. Over a season, it collects detritis and becomes a mess, and loses its capacity to prevent ants from climbing. So I remove the plastic at the end of winter, and let the trunk air out for a couple of months, before repeating the process.

The ants seem repelled by tanglefoot. They don't even try to cross it. I tried vaselline instead of tanglefoot but it seemed to run, and was not as gooey. Still it might work if you can't find the real thing.