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[NPR] A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered

Discussion in 'BBS Hangout' started by No Worries, May 20, 2021.

  1. No Worries

    No Worries Contributing Member

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    A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered

    After 17 years underground, the Brood X periodical cicadas are slowly emerging in 15 states across the East Coast and Midwest. From a report:

    They'll shed their skins and spend four to six weeks mating before the females lay eggs and they all die. But some of them are getting wilder in their short lives above ground. A fungus called Massospora, which can produce compounds of cathinone -- an amphetamine -- infects a small number of them and makes them lose control. The fungus takes over their bodies, causing them to lose their lower abdomen and genitals. And it pushes their mating into hyperdrive.

    "This is stranger than fiction," Matt Kasson, an associate professor of forest pathology and mycology at West Virginia University, tells NPR's All Things Considered. "To have something that's being manipulated by a fungus, to be hypersexual and to have prolonged stamina and just mate like crazy." Kasson, who has been studying Massospora for about five years, says just before the cicadas rise from the ground, the spores of the fungus start to infect the bug. Once it's above ground and starts to shed its skin to become an adult, its butt falls off. Then a "white plug of fungus" starts to grow in its place.
    ​
     
    #1 No Worries, May 20, 2021
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  2. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    @Jontro may need to get access to this fungus.
     
    #2 ElPigto, May 20, 2021
    TWS1986, Andre0087, Kim and 2 others like this.
  3. Dr of Dunk

    Dr of Dunk Clutch Crew

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    I'll be happy when this is over. I swear every website has been promoting this every day like it's something new. Nobody wants to talk about all the other "broods". Just "X". lol
     
    #3 Dr of Dunk, May 20, 2021
  4. Mr.Scarface

    Mr.Scarface Member

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    A Fungus Among Us....
     
    #4 Mr.Scarface, May 20, 2021
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  5. Ottomaton

    Ottomaton Contributing Member
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    Perhaps someone should test him... I'm thinking he may already be infected.
     
    #5 Ottomaton, May 20, 2021
    DonkeyMagic, Jontro and ElPigto like this.
  6. Invisible Fan

    Invisible Fan Contributing Member

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    So...when will it drop at the local dispensaries?
     
    #6 Invisible Fan, May 20, 2021
  7. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    Nice.
     
    #7 jiggyfly, May 20, 2021
  8. jiggyfly

    jiggyfly Member

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    No Trunk No Junk?
     
    #8 jiggyfly, May 20, 2021
  9. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!

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    Back in my day, they called it spanish fly and you had to mail in three 5s with the ad from the back of Hustler.
     
    #9 Xerobull, May 20, 2021
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  10. boomboom

    boomboom I GOT '99 PROBLEMS
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    Duck penises laugh at cicada butts.
     
    #10 boomboom, May 20, 2021
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  11. KingCheetah

    KingCheetah Contributing Member

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    It's like god got tired of the devil whining about not being able to make anything cool and he relented and said 'fine do what you want with these fungi things'...

     
    #11 KingCheetah, May 20, 2021
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  12. ElPigto

    ElPigto Member
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    Fascinating.
     
    #12 ElPigto, May 21, 2021
  13. Xerobull

    Xerobull You son of a b!tch! I'm in!

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    There’s so much we don’t understand in nature, from the insane regeneration powers of the axolotl to mind-controlling parasites. I have a theory that most crazy people in the world have toxoplasmosis.
     
    #13 Xerobull, May 21, 2021
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  14. Joe Joe

    Joe Joe Go Stros!
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    Fixed the Marvel way.
     
    #14 Joe Joe, May 21, 2021
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