Mind-controlling fungus is turning cicadas into 'hyper-sexual zombies'

The Manila Times

Mind-controlling fungus is turning cicadas into 'hyper-sexual zombies'  If the constant buzzing noise wasn't bad enough, experts at the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, say a mind-controlling fungus is turning cicadas into 'hyper-sexual zombies.'  It's called Massospora Cicadina, a white fungus that targets 13- and 17-year periodical cicadas.  The 'zombie fungus,' as it's being called, has already infected cicadas across the central and southern parts of Illinois and is beginning to pop up in the Chicago area.  "Only about 10 percent or less of cicadas are going to get it," said Jim Louderman, collections assistant at Chicago's Field Museum. Louderman says the chalky, white spore packet that replaces an infected cicada's abdomen and genitalia is used to spread the infection to other cicadas.   Video by REUTERS  Subscribe to The Manila Times Channel - https://tmt.ph/YTSubscribe   Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net   Follow us:  Facebook - https://tmt.ph/facebook  Instagram - https://tmt.ph/instagram  Twitter - https://tmt.ph/twitter  DailyMotion - https://tmt.ph/dailymotion   Subscribe to our Digital Edition - https://tmt.ph/digital   Check out our Podcasts:  Spotify - https://tmt.ph/spotify  Apple Podcasts - https://tmt.ph/applepodcasts  Amazon Music - https://tmt.ph/amazonmusic  Deezer: https://tmt.ph/deezer  Tune In: https://tmt.ph/tunein  #TheManilaTimes #tmtnews #cicada #insects

Transcript

00:00So, these are some of the cicadas that were collected last week down near Champaign, Illinois

00:12in central Illinois, and they have been infected by the so-called zombie fungus, which you

00:18would think would kill the cicadas, but actually this fungus just takes over them, and they're

00:24still alive and flying around spreading the spores, and with an extremely heightened sexual

00:30drive.

00:31Only about 10% or less of the cicadas are going to get it, and it fruits, making spores,

00:39and it knocks the back three segments of the abdomen off and replaces them with a spore

00:45packet, which is just kind of a fuzzy ball of spores that are hanging on to the back

00:50of the insect, and when the back of the insect falls off, it takes the genitalia with it,

00:57so the cicadas cannot mate.

01:09Here's the fungal plug that causes the cicada to become hypersexual, and it's just a mass

01:17of spores that have replaced the back three segments of the cicada's abdomen.

01:23They become hypersexual, and they just want to mate with any cicada they can find, which

01:28is how it is passed on.

01:30When they try to mate, they pass the spores on to other cicadas, so it is basically an

01:36STD.

01:37Which is really kind of interesting, so one of the questions is, what exactly is the fungus

01:43doing to manipulate the behavior of these cicadas?

01:46One of the things that's so cool about this is that this is one of those fungi that, instead

01:52of being a mushroom, this is something that is infecting this living animal here that

01:58it's buzzing around with that it's infected, and this one doesn't, this particular fungus

02:03doesn't make a mushroom, but what it does is it makes this kind of plug, this mass of

02:08spores on the rear end, and it can use, it can distribute, release those spores then

02:14to infect other ones.

02:35We end up seeing this kind of plug attached to the back end of these cicadas, and what

02:40it ultimately is, is it's a mass of spores, and so as these cicadas are flying around,

02:47they're raining down spores on other cicadas, and so they've earned this nickname, the Flying

02:52Salt Shakers of Death, which is kind of a catchy name in my opinion.

03:10I think these are getting spread throughout time, I think they may have traveled with

03:30the cicadas probably, as the cicadas dispersed to this area originally, you know, hundreds

03:36of years ago, they may have brought it with them, or you could have some flying around

03:40that are just flicking that salt, those spores down, that might get caught in the wind and

03:46potentially blow by.

03:48So a zombie apocalypse is not going to happen because of cicadas.

04:10The fungus that causes the so-called zombie cicadas cannot transfer to anything but periodical

04:18cicadas.

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