There's a deadly sexually transmitted disease, a fungus, that turns cicadas into zombies -- and it's already been detected in parts of the Midwest, experts…
It's a real problem that “is even stranger than science fiction,” University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley saidThere's a deadly sexually transmitted disease, a fungus, that turns cicadas into zombies -- and it's already been detected in parts of the Midwest, experts said.
It's a real problem that “is even stranger than science fiction,” University of Connecticut entomologist John Cooley said. “This is a sexually transmitted zombie disease.”Cooley has seen areas in the Midwest where up to 10% of the individuals were infected before. While exact numbers aren't clear just yet with thethat he found one of the infected specimens as the fungus was confirmed in an area south of St. Louis.
The white fungus takes over the male, their gonads are torn from their body and chalky spores are spread around to nearby other cicadas, Cooley said. The insects are sterilized, not killed. This way the fungus uses the cicadas to spread to others.A periodical cicada nymph wiggles in the dirt in Macon, Ga., on Thursday, March 28, 2024, after being found while digging holes for rosebushes. Trillions of cicadas are about to emerge in numbers not seen in decades and possibly centuries.
The fungus is also the type that has hallucinatory effects on birds that would eat them, Cooley said. Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly
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