A fungus infection in cicadas causes them to lose limbs and exhibit eccentric behavior, such as attempting to mate despite missing genitals and butts.
The telltale sign of infection in a cicada is when “the back half of their abdomen has been replaced with a yellow/white ‘plug’ of fungus,” says Dr. Brian Lovett.This cicada head just walked up a tree in my backyard like nothing was wrong. A bird or squirrel must have eaten the rest of it for breakfast today.
“Magicicada sexual behavior is highly stereotyped: males call and females respond with wing flicks, but healthy males never signal with wing flicks. When females remain unmated much beyond the onset of sexual receptivity, their responses become exaggerated with louder, more consistent wing flicks and sometimes even whole-body motions that appear to draw the attention of chorusing males,” according to the study.
Brian Lovett, Ph.D., a co-author of the study, further explained to VERIFY what makes the fungus-infected cicadas hypersexual.
Fungus Cicadas Infection Behavior Mating
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