Ok! I know! I know! I wrote about cicadas yesterday and I thought that was a little unusual because the story talked about people collecting them and eating them! Different for sure, but then I saw this story and well….cicadas come around every 17 years or so, they mate, the female lays her eggs and they all die. A long wait for such a short tryst. Well now scientists have discovered a fungus called Massospora, which can produce compounds of cathinone, an amphetamine, that infects a small number of them and makes them lose control. The fungus takes over their bodies, causing them to lose their lower abdomen and genitals. And it pushes their mating into hyperdrive. I’m assuming this happens before they loose their private parts (although how private can a cicadas parts be?). Now I get the urge to mate after 17 years and with a limited time, but these little buggers, when affected by this fungus, go absolutely nuts. I guess the question is if you had 4 to 6 weeks after being Rip Van Winkled for 17 years how much sex would you be working on? No need to answer that’s a rhetorical question! So read this article it’s kinda weird, but well hmmmmm!!

A Fungus Is Pushing Cicada Sex Into Hyperdrive And Leaving Them Dismembered.