Billions of cicadas are about to be "controlled like zombies" while spreading a strange fungus that "hijacks their bodies and behaviour", according to a report.
In a plot twist worthy of a horror film, the bugs will develop "hypersexualisation" and therefore spread the fungus ever more widely as males flirt like females despite the fact their genitals have fallen off, said CNN.
"The truth is actually much stranger than fiction," Dr John Cooley, an associate professor in residence of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of Connecticut, told the broadcaster.
In an event dubbed "cicada-geddon" by one expert, a mass of cicadas is expected to emerge across several US states this year. But some of them will be "zombie cicadas" that are infected by the sexually transmitted fungus, said CBS News.
And what a fungus it is: it destroys the insects' genitals and replaces their abdomens with a cavity packed with fungal spores. This then manipulates the bugs into hypersexual behaviour to spread the fungus further, transforming them into what some scientists are calling "saltshakers of death".
But the fungus could have a positive effect for humans. Researchers believe it could be a source of new medicines as it has been used as a traditional form of treatment for inflammation among cultures in China and New Zealand's Maori people.
Meanwhile, Matthew Kasson, an associate professor of Mycology and Forest Pathology at West Virginia University, encourages Americans not to worry about the forthcoming episode. Instead they should see it as a "biological spectacle" and "one of the natural wonders of the world", he told CNN. | 
