How does Massospora cicadina actually affect periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp.)?
- Cicada nymphs all emerge at the same time - an evening in Spring where the soil comes to 64º F. As they are borrowing to the surface the nymphs come in contact with Massospora cicadina spores and become infected.
- Infected adult cicada's become hyperactive and hypersexual, spending all of their energy on mating, even forgoing food to mate. Infected male cicadas will actually mimic the wing-flicking patterns of females in order to mate with healthy males so M. cicadina can carry on its life cycle. The mating, however, is unsuccessful because the fungus eats away at the the insect's abdomen and genitals, leaving only a chalky 'plug' of spores.
What keeps the cicadas going despite their missing body parts? The answer: Drugs!
- Cathinone is an amphetamine found only in the khat plant of Africa and Saudi Arabia.
- Psilocybin is a hallucinogenic found in magic mushrooms.
- Both drugs are found in the 'plugs' of infected cicadas. Scientists theorize that the drugs suppress the insects appetite and supply it with energy to go on its nonstop mating bender.
Massospora cicadina is the only known predator or pathogen that is synchronized to the periodical cicada's lifecycle.
Both species have evolved to be extremely specialized to one another:
- If the fungi evolves to become too strong it will wipe out its host. Without the cicada to use as its host, the fungi will go extinct.
- And if the cicadas evolve immunity to M. cicadina then the fungi will also go extinct. However, without the pathogen rendering many cicadas infertile the brood could become so large that they are not able to sustain their populations.
This creates an interesting obstacle when it comes to designing my speculative organism of the future. Rather than focusing solely on the evolution of Massospora cicadina, I have to look at how the relationship between the fungi and its host could evolve.
Some factors I am thinking about is how global warming and rising sea levels can affect the emergence of cicada nymphs, and the role that cathinone and psilocybin can play in its evolution.
Sources:
A specialized fungal parasite (Massospora cicadina) hijacks the sexual signals of periodical cicadas (Hemiptera: Cicadidae: Magicicada)
Drugged, Castrated, Eager to Mate: The Lives of Fungi-Infected Cicadas
This Parasite Drugs Its Hosts With the Psychedelic Chemical in Shrooms
Behavioral betrayal: How select fungal parasites enlist living insects to do their bidding
Evolutionary relationships among Massospora spp. (Entomophthorales), obligate pathogens of cicadas
Is This Fungus Using a Virus to Control an Animal's Mind
These fungi drug cicadas with psilocybin or amphetamine to make them mate nonstop
Khat - United States Drug Enforcement Administration
Psilocybin - United States Drug Enforcement Administration