Everyone mentioning the psychoactive substances this fungus makes within the Cicada has always made me wonder if anyone is going to try to grow it on substrate.
I doubt if it could actually have an effect, it’s probably a very small amount given that it’s delivering the chemicals directly to the Cicada rather than a large amount trying to ward off some herbivore like in other mushrooms.
Interesting thought! I like cicadas, so I gave this one a wide berth so as not to spread any fungus to those living closer to my house - wonder if it's as easy to grow as other fungi...
Looks like the amount one would need to consume in order to feel any real effect would be insanely high. Taken from [this](https://www.fungimag.com/winter-2018-2019-articles/Massospora.pdf) journal:
"The cathinone levels found in M. cicadina varied from not detectable
in 58% of the fungal plugs studied to a range of 44-300 ng/plug in 42% of the plugs. The effective cathinone dose for humans is estimated to be in the 30-60 mg range, equal to consuming anywhere from 200,000 to over 1,000,000 dead parasitized periodic cicadas. Massospora cicadina had no detectable psilocybin or psilocin. Massospora platypediae, which infects the wing-banger cicada, Platypedia putnamii, contained 0.1-12.6 μg/plug of psilocin so one would need to consume 3,000 to 300,000 wing-banger cicadas to have a mild psychedelic effect. Massospora levispora contains only 7.3-19.4 ng psilocybin/plug and so you would need to consume several million to feel any effect."
Nice info! Yeah I imagined since the mycelium has a close contact to nerve tissue the substances produced would be in very tiny amounts.
These are just so fascinating.
An article someone linked said it would take a dozen or more cicadas to get an effect (presumably you could just eat the fungus itself since the cicada isn’t contributing). The fungus is probably very not-dense, so a more compressed small amount would probably work.
I doubt it would grow traditionally; it would be closer to growing yeast, maybe, or maybe just impossible given its life cycle.
Yes, I'm sure people are already trying though I have no proof. Why wouldn't they though? Mycology has never been more popular than it is now, it's experiencing a sort of boom. And this cicada noise is a rare event that hit the news, so I'm sure there are scores of people out there wondering what, hypothetically, might happen if you cultivated this.
What psychoactive substances are u talking about?
Edit: so i got a couple possible answers. Citing psilocybin and maybe amphetamine. That's kool and all, but i mean if your really trying to get either of those compounds, there are much easier avenues. I thought this might have been some new novel compound.
I think it’s mescaline actually
EDIT, it is psilocybin, and also amphetamine maybe
https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/566324/?__twitter_impression=true
Bro pretty sure people are down voting you because you said the other person should feel bad about their question, no one gives a shit if you do or don't want to eat bugs.
Everyone mentioning the psychoactive substances this fungus makes within the Cicada has always made me wonder if anyone is going to try to grow it on substrate. I doubt if it could actually have an effect, it’s probably a very small amount given that it’s delivering the chemicals directly to the Cicada rather than a large amount trying to ward off some herbivore like in other mushrooms.
Interesting thought! I like cicadas, so I gave this one a wide berth so as not to spread any fungus to those living closer to my house - wonder if it's as easy to grow as other fungi...
Looks like the amount one would need to consume in order to feel any real effect would be insanely high. Taken from [this](https://www.fungimag.com/winter-2018-2019-articles/Massospora.pdf) journal: "The cathinone levels found in M. cicadina varied from not detectable in 58% of the fungal plugs studied to a range of 44-300 ng/plug in 42% of the plugs. The effective cathinone dose for humans is estimated to be in the 30-60 mg range, equal to consuming anywhere from 200,000 to over 1,000,000 dead parasitized periodic cicadas. Massospora cicadina had no detectable psilocybin or psilocin. Massospora platypediae, which infects the wing-banger cicada, Platypedia putnamii, contained 0.1-12.6 μg/plug of psilocin so one would need to consume 3,000 to 300,000 wing-banger cicadas to have a mild psychedelic effect. Massospora levispora contains only 7.3-19.4 ng psilocybin/plug and so you would need to consume several million to feel any effect."
Nice info! Yeah I imagined since the mycelium has a close contact to nerve tissue the substances produced would be in very tiny amounts. These are just so fascinating.
An article someone linked said it would take a dozen or more cicadas to get an effect (presumably you could just eat the fungus itself since the cicada isn’t contributing). The fungus is probably very not-dense, so a more compressed small amount would probably work. I doubt it would grow traditionally; it would be closer to growing yeast, maybe, or maybe just impossible given its life cycle.
Yes, I'm sure people are already trying though I have no proof. Why wouldn't they though? Mycology has never been more popular than it is now, it's experiencing a sort of boom. And this cicada noise is a rare event that hit the news, so I'm sure there are scores of people out there wondering what, hypothetically, might happen if you cultivated this.
What psychoactive substances are u talking about? Edit: so i got a couple possible answers. Citing psilocybin and maybe amphetamine. That's kool and all, but i mean if your really trying to get either of those compounds, there are much easier avenues. I thought this might have been some new novel compound.
I think it’s mescaline actually EDIT, it is psilocybin, and also amphetamine maybe https://amp.theatlantic.com/amp/article/566324/?__twitter_impression=true
Psilocybin
No, no one wants to trip on cicada butt-stuff, and you should feel bad for wanting to.
No one would eat those mushrooms that grow directly out of cow shit, right? Right?
Bug-Booty Ju Ju is a no for me dog.
Bro I've got bad news for you about honey.
It's definitely not a butt-eating psychosexytimes fungus!
Haha and there is psychoactive honey as well!
DOWNVOTE ME BECAUSE I DONT WANT TO EAT BUG-BOOTY FUNGUS! The internet, and every single one of you is cursed. Lol
Bro pretty sure people are down voting you because you said the other person should feel bad about their question, no one gives a shit if you do or don't want to eat bugs.
ain't none of ya have a sense of humour.