Fungal manipulation of "zombie cicadas"

In 2004, tens of billions of Ruder X cicadas burrowed into the soil in the eastern United States. After up to 17 years of subterranean dormancy, these wake worms feathered into cicadas and are now breaking out of the ground in swarms, eventually estimated to be as many as 30 billion cicadas whose calls will ring out this summer.

Since these cicadas emerge every 17 years, this cycle is known as the 17-year cicada. During the 17 years, the larvae continuously suck the sap from the roots of plants. Although they live underground, the number of freezing and thawing cycles in the soil tells how many springs and autumns have passed outside.

After 17 years, these cicadas finally come to the surface, but they have very little life left. For the next month or so, the 17-year cicadas will be constantly looking for mates to mate with. After completing the arduous task of reproducing, the 17-year-old will die. The hatched larvae will burrow into the ground and enter a new life cycle.

In addition to the 17-year cicada, there are also periodic cicadas with life cycles of 5, 7, 11, and 13 years. Interestingly, the life cycles of cicadas are all prime numbers, which is the result of evolution. Because the cycles are prime numbers, different cicadas will have little time to meet each other, for example, 17-year cicadas and 13-year cicadas will take 17 × 13 = 221 years to break out at the same time. This can effectively reduce the competition for survival between different species of cicadas and thus enhance their survival rate.

During courtship, male cicadas will keep making chirping sounds as a way to attract females for mating. At the peak of reproduction, the chirping of large numbers of male cicadas will become an annoying noise, previously measured at 90 decibels under a tree, which is equivalent to staying on a noisy factory floor.

Courtship of 17-year-old cicadas is a two-way street, with females also courting males. Although female cicadas do not chirp, they will attract males by flapping their wings. After mating, the female cicadas will lay about 600 eggs. After completing the mission of reproduction, the cicada's life comes to an end.

"Zombie Cicada"

The proliferation of 17-year-old cicadas will not only provide plenty of food for predators but will also serve as a breeding ground for a terrible fungus. A fungus of the genus Conglomerates is well known in the scientific community, and they specialize in paraphrasing 17-year and 13-year cicadas. If the parasitism cicadas mate, the fungus will then spread.

Once infected with this fungus, they will continue to eat away at the cicada's internal organs until the cicada's abdomen splits and falls off, eventually leaving behind a white spore. To the surprise of biologists, even though the abdomen, which makes up a third of the body, is gone, they are still fine and can still go in search of a mate to reproduce.

Scientists found through research, it turns out that this fungus contains toxic mushrooms and hallucinogenic ingredients. Once parasitized by the fungus, the 17-year-old cicadas will be at the mercy of the fungus and will become "zombie cicadas" that will spread the fungus everywhere by mating like crazy.

Under the control of the fungus, male cicadas will not only chirp to attract the opposite sex but also mimic the courtship signals of females by flapping their wings. The fungus injects hallucinogenic substances into the cicadas' brains, making them very excited and frantic to find mates to mate with, thus spreading the fungus to more cicadas.

After about 7 days of infection, the fungus grows large enough to cause the cicada's abdomen to fall off. Even so, these "zombie cicadas" continue to find mates and reproduce as if nothing had happened, unaware that they have become a breeding ground for the fungus.

Can 17-year-old cicadas be eaten?

This is a question that many foodies are concerned about. 17-year-old cicadas and cicada nymphs are rich in protein, so if they are not infected by the fungus, they are edible and taste like tofu. There are very few local cicadas to eat, and even if you want to eat them, these tens of billions of them are simply too much to eat. Finally, is this cicada good fried or dry-fried?