Gender-bending, Death-zombie Fungus Causes Cicadas' Butts To Fall Off

Gene Kritsky, a professor at the College of Mount St. Joseph, took this photo of the bright eyes of an adult periodical 17-year cicada in 2004.

“Imagine if, after a lifetime underground, you only had a few glorious weeks to live in the sun, eat and mate and then your butt fell off.”

Massospora cicadina is a fungus containing the same chemical as psychedelic mushrooms. It attacks Brood X cicadas, eating away their insides until their abdomens crack, fall off and get replaced with a ball of white spores. At that point they become 'flying salt shakers of death'.

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Via FB friend Florie