Methed out self-castrating bisexual r*pe-zombie cicada apocalypse is imminent

>This spring, billions of cicadas will emerge

Cicadas are infected with a fungus that makes their peepee fall off and replaces or with a fake "fungus peepee"

>A mass of fungal spores builds up in the abdomen of each infected cicada. Eventually, the back end of the cicada — including its genitals — falls off. In its place, a white fungal plug is exposed, “a clump of spores that are erupting out of where the genitals and abdomen once were”

The fake peepee also makes meth in order to make the bug ragingly horny

>We found an amphetamine in those fungal plugs, which provides a plausible explanation as to why the behavioral modification is occurring,” Kasson said. After all, amphetamines are powerful stimulants in humans.

The fungal meth-peepee turns the cicada into a horny zombie whose peepee falls off when it fricks, both infecting its mate and also jizzing spores from the open wound to bomb other bugs with as it flies around in a meth fueled rage.

>when they pull apart, guess what happens? Rip. And then there's a cicada walking around with someone else's genitals stuck to them,” Cooley said. “And now the cicada that's infected is busted open. The spores dispersed by these "flying saltshakers" go on to infect the next generation of cicadas

The zombie bugs also become gay in order to frick as much as possible

>The infected males keep trying to mate with females, and they also change their behavior to attract their fellow males.

R-slur scientists can't decide if bugs get high on meth or not, the fungus may just make meth for lols

>it's making a powerful psychoactive chemical, but the powerful psychoactive chemical may not do anything to the insects,” Cooley said. He suggested that the fungus may have a different means of controlling the cicadas' behavior, and that the amphetamines it produces might instead serve to ward off vertebrate predators

To be clear, cicadas are edible, and they don't even need the meth so it's fine if you try it. Each cicada only has a low dose so you should eat several dozen of them

>While cicadas are edible, Kasson said people hoping to sample the bugs should be choosy about which ones they eat. If a person, dog or cat were to eat an infected cicada, they wouldn't be affected by the amphetamines in it — the dose is too small.

Don't worry about catching the peepee destroying r*pe-zombie fungus either, you can enjoy the free meth without a care

>M. cicadina is only capable of infecting cicadas (and just the 13- and 17-year varieties of these bugs), so humanity is probably safe from zombification.