17-year cicadas become sex-crazed zombies due to Massospora cicadina fungus control.

Scientists track a super-sized fungus controlling periodical cicadas, making them hypersexual zombies as they spread the parasite. This fungus, Massospora cicadina, has the largest known genome of any fungus with 1.5 billion base pairs, 30 times longer than many common fungi. Living underground for 13-17 years, the fungus stays with the cicadas before taking control, making them sex-crazed zombies to spread the parasite as a sexually transmitted disease.

June 19, 2024
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