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This spring, billions of cicadas will emerge after more than a decade underground. Some of these insects will be controlled like zombies into spreading a strange fungus that hijacks cicadas’ bodies and behavior.A periodical cicada nymph is spotted in Macon, Georgia, on March 27. Billions of periodical cicadas are about to emerge in a rare occurrence not seen in centuries. after more than a decade underground, ready to climb into the trees and make a ruckus as they sing to attract mates.
Periodical cicadas lay their eggs in tree branches, and when those eggs hatch, the resulting baby cicadas, or nymphs, drop to the ground and burrow into the soil. Depending on their species, they spend 13 or 17 years underground, drinking sap from tree roots, until it’s time for the nearly grown cicadas to emerge. At some point, the insects are exposed to spores of the fungus Massospora cicadina.
Cooley noted that while amphetamines stimulate the central nervous systems of vertebrate animals, insects such as cicadas have different nervous systems, and it’s not clear if those stimulants would affect them the same way.
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