Fungus Fact Friday

Tagged: psychoactive

fungi with mind-altering toxins

Massospora cicadina infected cicada 0

Fungus Fact

#221: Massospora cicadina

It’s hard being an insect. Despite being numerous, insects have many predators, have to deal with human pesticides and cars, and are susceptible to dreadful fungal pathogens. Some of these entomopathogenic fungi take control of their hosts’ bodies in innovative but disturbing ways. One such fungus is Massospora cicadina, which infects periodical cicadas (Magicicada spp., which appear in eastern North America every 13 or 17 years). After spending over a decade in the soil waiting for its hosts to emerge, the fungus infects the cicadas and causes their abdomens to pop off. The cicadas then fly around and try to mate with each other, spreading the fungal infection both through the air and through contact. It’s hard to imagine a more horrific sexually transmitted infection, even in the insect world.

Fungi in the News Image 0

News Update

Mycology News: April to June 2016

Fungi appear in the news with surprising frequency. However, many of those stories do not provide any new information. Below is a summary of what we’ve learned about fungi from November 2016 Through February 2017. Read below to learn about: mycorrhizas, A. bisporus engineering, fungal evolution, psilocybin research, fungal concerns in medicine, rock-eating fungi, and more! Visit the associated links to get the full story.

#121: Amanita muscaria, Part 2: Connecting to the Divine 1

Fungus Fact

#121: Amanita muscaria, Part 2: Connecting to the Divine

Across the globe, Amanita muscaria (the “Fly Agaric”) is the go-to mushroom for connecting humans with the divine. I will forego describing this mushroom, since I have already done that in FFF#069.  Fortunately, you are familiar with this toadstool.  It is the mushroom with a red cap covered in white dots, with white gills underneath, and supported by a white stipe.  Probably about 90% of mushroom art is based on this mushroom, so you have definitely seen it around (for example: in Mario games, Disney’s Fantasia, lawn decorations, and Christmas ornaments).  Aside from the visual aesthetic the mushroom provides in your daily life, muscaria has had a deep and lasting impact on a variety of cultures around the world, from Hinduism to Siberian shamans to Santa Claus.

#098: Psilocybin and Psilocin 7

Fungus Fact

#098: Psilocybin and Psilocin

These two toxins are the active chemicals in hallucinogenic mushrooms (often called “magic mushrooms” or “‘shrooms”). Psilocybin and psilocin belong to the LSD family of chemicals, but they are smaller than LSD and occur naturally in mushrooms.  These compounds can be found in a variety o f mushrooms, including many species in the genera Psilocybe, Conocybe, Panaeolus, and Gymnopilus.  Most often, the mushrooms eaten for their hallucinogenic effects belong to the genus Psilocybe, which lends its name to psilocybin and psilocin.

#069: Amanita muscaria, Part 1: The Type Mushroom [Archived] 6

Archived

#069: Amanita muscaria, Part 1: The Type Mushroom [Archived]

Note: This is an archived post. You can find the current version of this post here. You are undoubtedly familiar with this mushroom, even if you recognize neither its scientific name, Amanita muscaria, nor its common name, “The Fly Agaric.” If the word “mushroom” does not immediately bring this fungus to mind, then the word “toadstool” probably does.  You have certainly encountered Amanita muscaria’s distinctive red cap with white spots in a wide variety of visual art forms.  This toadstool frequently pops up in paintings, cartoons, video games, movies, and decorations.  It is because of the artistic over-use of the Fly Agaric that I referred to it above as “The Type Mushroom.”   When describing a new taxonomic division or species of fungi, mycologists collect a “type specimen” which best exemplifies the characteristics of that taxon.  This ensures that future mycologists know exactly what the original author intended to include in...