If youre in the mood for a weird scavenger hunt this spring, youre in luck.
There are many sinister parasites in the world, but M. cicadina is definitely onetailor-madefor a horror movie.
So we rely exclusively on harvesting fungal plugs from the backside of infected cicadas that are collected during outbreaks.
A 17-year cicada killed by the fungus Massospora cicadina.Image: Gerry Bishop (Shutterstock)
And its critical that we collect as many as we can.
Like their hosts, M. cicadina has acomplicated life cycle, filled with sex and drugs.
These cicadas develop a specific bang out of infection classified as stage I.
A cicada infected by the fungus Massospora cicadina.Photo: Matthew Kasson
The fungal plugs are loaded with spores that can infect healthy cicadas.
These rampant orgies dont help the cicadas any, but they do fuel the parasites continued spread.
Theres a second stage of M. cicadina infection, for instance.
A cicada infected by the fungus Massospora cicadina.Photo: Matthew Kasson
Stage II male cicadas also no longer turn into pansexual horndogs.
Another lingering question concerns the cicada broods.
That leaves launch the possibility that these two groups of parasites are actually two different species.
We really have to be opportunists and take advantage of these emergences when we can, Kasson noted.
In the last few weeks, Kasson has made acall outto the public through social media.
They can also get in touch with Kasson directly through his X/Twitter handle@imperfectfunguy.
While Kassons team is most eager to collect actual specimens, no observation is too small.
So I would say probably not worth the risk.
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